Project Leaders Information

Alabama Immersion Project 2020

Become an Immersion Project Leader

Leading an Immersion Project provides a significant student leadership opportunity and a chance to create a rewarding and life-changing learning experience for the participants involved. The success of Immersion Projects depends in large part on the commitment level of the project leader. Leading a project requires a significant time commitment:

  • Prior to the trip: recruitment, educating yourself on the issue, training sessions, trip participant meetings.
  • Leading the trip.
  • After the trip: post-trip reflection and activities

Please carefully consider your availability and commitment but also know that you will not be left alone in this endeavor. With each step, CPS staff will support you in your efforts to understand the social justice issue you are learning about and to lead the group to a better understanding of that issue. In addition, each Project Leader will be paired with a Project Mentor, a faculty or staff member from Gettysburg, who will assist you in facilitating the project.

The Project Leader receives $750 to offset the cost of their project. This financial assistance is offered to provide opportunities for student leadership development and to encourage participation in Immersion Projects.

Responsibilities of the Student Leader

As a Project Leader, you are committing to the following. All of these are mandatory and will require you to plan or adjust your schedule to be able to prioritize these activities and events. This commitment is approximately 3 hours per week, which can be completed in the CPS Office.

Before the Immersion Project:

  • Participation as a student leader in GIV Day (Training: August 22, 2024; GIV Day: August 23, 2024)
  • Recruitment for your trip, including the Engage EXPO (August 28, 2024).
  • Regular meetings with your Project Mentor prior to your pre-trip meetings.
  • Researching the issue/location and organizing an educational curriculum for participants prior to the project. These six education and training sessions are designed to prepare the group for the experience. This includes both building group cohesion and beginning to educate the group about the social issues and history of the site.
  • Facilitating the five pre-trip meetings.
  • Participation in weekly meetings with all Project Leaders throughout the fall (tentatively Thurs, 11:45am-1:00pm).
  • Attendance at the All Participant Orientation.
  • Make sure all student participant forms are handed in on time.

 During the Immersion Project:

  • Facilitating the Immersion Project, including the following:
    • leading regular reflection activities for the group.
    • managing group dynamics.
    • working with the Project Mentor to ensure adherence to schedule, budget, and policies.
  • Take pictures for CPS to use in future publications.
  • Be a strong peer contact for all participants during the project.

 After the Immersion Project

  • Convening the group post-trip to organize an activity that extends the project in some way. It could be an educational event that brings the issues you learned back to Gettysburg. It could be a fund raiser to support the work of the organization you partnered with. It could be an article in the paper, a film screening, or a blog.
  • Compose a report of the project, noting any mishaps, suggestions for the future, and highlighting the group’s favorite activities.
  • Meet with a CPS staff member to review your project report.

Possible Immersion Project Topics and Locations

  • Black Lives Matter and the Civil Rights Movement in Alabama (Winter)

  • Immigration on the US-Mexican Border (Winter)

  • Women’s Rights and Islam in Morocco (Winter)

  • Peacebuilding and Development in Rwanda (Winter)

  • Food, Globalization & Sustainability in Nepal (Winter)

  • Decolonizing Education in Senegal (Winter)

  • LGBTQ Rights in Mexico (Winter)

  • Sustainability, the Environment and Ecotourism in Costa Rica (Winter)

  • Music, Ritual, and the Struggle for Human Rights in the Dominican Republic (Spring Break)                 

  • Debt, Entrepreneurship, and Statehood in Puerto Rico (Spring Break)

  • Health Care and Education in Costa Rica (Spring Break)

  • Criminal Justice Reform in Washington, DC (Spring Break)

  • Literacy and Education in Nicaragua (Spring Break)

  • The Lakota Culture in the Pine Ridge Reservation (Spring Break)

  • Models of Urban Educational Reform in Baltimore (Spring Break)

Applications for Project Leaders are due February 12, 2024 for projects scheduled during the 2024-2025 academic year. For consideration, submit your resume and cover letter on Handshake. Please email Immersion_Projects@gettysburg.edu with any questions.