2008 Woodie Awards
CMSA Plans Trip to New Orleans this Winter
Katie Meyer
Issue date: 10/18/06 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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This January, Campus Ministry will send a group of Manhattan College students, led by Dr. Rocco Marinaccio, to do service-learning work in New Orleans, Louisiana. This is the third service trip to New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina hit the city in August 2006. Marinaccio plans to integrate cultural and academic studies, along with service work, into the framework of the trip.
Marinaccio, a professor of English at Manhattan, taught English at the University of New Orleans from 1983-1988. Marinaccio spoke to the Quadrangle about his plans for the upcoming trip. He explained that it will serve as an opportunity for students to provide service where it is direly needed, while also learn the cultural and socioeconomic issues that continue to surround New Orleans more than one year after the disaster.
Being a former professor in New Orleans, Marinaccio has the proper connections and resources to make this January's trip unlike any other Manhattan College service trip. "I hope that my own experience in New Orleans will add to the narrowly defined service trip, and students can learn about situations and challenges in the reconstruction," said Marinaccio.
The trip will consist mainly of manual labor work in homes damaged by the hurricane. Marinaccio, however, also plans to have sociologists, public policy analysts, and historians who have studied the social-economic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina speak to students. The speakers will hopefully challenge the participants to break out of the bubble that college can often create and expose them to the larger issues that are at stake. On a larger scale, the academic learning aspect of the trip can serve as an effective way for students see how their majors and fields of interest can be applied to a career in public service.
Since Hurricane Katrina hit, it has not only destroyed New Orleans' terrain, but it has also displaced a great deal of its colorful culture that makes New Orleans home to its residents. "Most of us like where we live, but New Oreleanians love where they live…And I want people to realize how possible it is to love where you live, " said Marinaccio. He plans to show students the culture that still remains by exposing trip participants to the cuisine and art that still defines the community, despite the tragic devastation of Katrina.
The New Orleans service-trip is planned for mid-January. If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Rocco Marinaccio or see Lois Harr in Cornerstone. Applications are currently still being accepted.
Marinaccio, a professor of English at Manhattan, taught English at the University of New Orleans from 1983-1988. Marinaccio spoke to the Quadrangle about his plans for the upcoming trip. He explained that it will serve as an opportunity for students to provide service where it is direly needed, while also learn the cultural and socioeconomic issues that continue to surround New Orleans more than one year after the disaster.
Being a former professor in New Orleans, Marinaccio has the proper connections and resources to make this January's trip unlike any other Manhattan College service trip. "I hope that my own experience in New Orleans will add to the narrowly defined service trip, and students can learn about situations and challenges in the reconstruction," said Marinaccio.
The trip will consist mainly of manual labor work in homes damaged by the hurricane. Marinaccio, however, also plans to have sociologists, public policy analysts, and historians who have studied the social-economic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina speak to students. The speakers will hopefully challenge the participants to break out of the bubble that college can often create and expose them to the larger issues that are at stake. On a larger scale, the academic learning aspect of the trip can serve as an effective way for students see how their majors and fields of interest can be applied to a career in public service.
Since Hurricane Katrina hit, it has not only destroyed New Orleans' terrain, but it has also displaced a great deal of its colorful culture that makes New Orleans home to its residents. "Most of us like where we live, but New Oreleanians love where they live…And I want people to realize how possible it is to love where you live, " said Marinaccio. He plans to show students the culture that still remains by exposing trip participants to the cuisine and art that still defines the community, despite the tragic devastation of Katrina.
The New Orleans service-trip is planned for mid-January. If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Rocco Marinaccio or see Lois Harr in Cornerstone. Applications are currently still being accepted.