The Lindy Center is committed to supporting students, faculty and community partners in local and global civic engagement. The Lindy Center Community-Based Learning Teaching Assistant (CBL TA) program places student leaders in community-based learning courses to offer faculty critical support in course development, classroom management and reflection necessary to offer such courses.

CBL TA positions offer students a unique opportunity to work with Lindy Center staff and a cohort of TAs to deepen and enhance their commitment to CBL. CBL TAs grow as civically minded leaders at Drexel by engaging with course material, community partners, faculty and students enrolled in an undergraduate community-based learning course. 

Role Description and Expectations

CBL Teaching Assistant will work an average of 20 hours each term and are given a $250 stipend for their time. Prior to the start of the course, CBL Teaching Assistants will attend a required training and review an agreement with faculty which articulates the following expectations. They will meet each term with a cohort of CBL Teaching Assistants to reflect, share resources and best practices, and build a community of support with one another.

CBL Teaching Assistants may be expected to fill a variety of roles depending on the needs of the faculty member, students, and the CBL course: 

• Facilitate logistics with community partners and faculty. 
• Monitor student engagement or service participation. 
• Assist with course development or activities. 
• Lead class discussions and reflection. 
• Mentor students in community and civic engagement. 
• Attend two cohort meetings per term

Benefits

There are many benefits of being a CBL Teaching Assistant. This role allows you to develop your civic pathway and commitment to community engagement, acquire transferrable skills and expand course content knowledge. CBL Teaching Assistants have the opportunity to work closely with faculty mentors and community partners, and create a community cohort to support their work.

In the role, students will: 

• participate in a cohort retreat to build community.
• experience work as an educator and community liaison.
• build leadership skills and professional identities. 
• gain awareness of personal strengths and leadership styles.
• experience working with diverse populations.
• grow an understanding of civic relationships.  
• gain networking opportunities and résumé credentials for future education or employment.

Eligibility and Application

Students interested in applying for a TA position must have earned a “B” or higher in CIVC 101 and successfully completed at least one CBL course. Students are required to submit a letter of recommendation from a community-based learning faculty member.

Applications for joining the 2021-22 CBL Assistant Cohort are due November 30, 2021. Please access the application here.

Once initially hired and trained for the TA position, students will continue to be given the opportunity to TA every term as long as they continue to meet the role's requirements. Students also can TA during terms when they are on co-op as long as there is a section that fits their schedule.

2021-22 CBL TAs

Alexis

Alexis (they/them) is senior environmental science undergraduate from Philadelphia. They have been engaged with the Lindy Center for three years attending community-based learning courses, developing community-based programs with external partners and learning in community with the Teaching Assistant cohort. Through support of the Lindy, Alexis has developed their own community-based, land-centered program that examines the histories of food apartheid and land justice in the Black communities of Philadelphia called Lessons of Da Land. Alexis is also engaged in community organizing and education through Sankofa Community Farm in Southwest Philadelphia. They hope to incorporate their experiences with community in their agroecology research pursuits in graduate school.

Akilah

Akilah (They/Them) is a senior candidate for the B.S. in Environmental Science with a focus in Applied Environmental Science, and a minor in Climate Change. Raised between South Florida and Jamaica their world view has been shaped by the practice of accessibility, from readability of content to the ability to spend time in nature. This holds true for the work they do in both the Ward Lab, and the Coastal Change Lab housed by the BEES department and the Academy of Natual Sciences. Some projects they have recently finished and are currently working on are conducting a greenhouse gas inventory and writing a climate action plan for Abington Township, leveraging access to green space as a tool to develop STEM identity in poor and minority school children in Philadelphia, and auditing the technical report of the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary for social justice considerations to help combat structural, environmental racism. When not in the lab, physically or mentally, they spend their time trying to read at least one book a month, collecting recipes, working out, and designing clothes.

Serena

My name is Serena Hermitt, and I am a senior Global Studies major with a concentration in Justice and Human Rights and a minor in Spanish. Previously I have taken Spanish CBL classes in Food, Culture, and Heritage with the Garces Foundation and Disaster and Resilience in Puerto Rico with Plenitud PR. I have a passion for all things equity, justice, and community-building on both a local and global scale, and I hope to continue my service through a Master of Social Work Degree after I graduate. My hope is that this continued education will allow me to better serve the communities I live and work in. In my free time, I love to do yoga, read, and listen to music. I am very excited to be working with the Lindy Center this year and hope others can have the same valuable experience in CBL that I have had.

Deja

My name is Deja Oliver and I am a junior psychology major with minors in history and psychiatric rehabilitation. Within the Lindy Center I have worn many hats but for the 2021-2022 school year, I will be focusing on the Lindy Intentional Community (LIC). My overall goal for the LIC is that it grows in its mission of being a place of community, love, safety, and learning. Outside of the Lindy Center, I am the President of the Kappa Sigma chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.

Anais

Hi everyone! My name is Anais and I’m a third-year public health major with a Spanish minor. I am also pursuing the MPH program in Public Health at Dornsife. I have always loved being involved in my community as well as on a global scale. In fact, I have taken part in many volunteer activities, the best and most rewarding one has been traveling to Zambia to help three schools which highly needed educational and economical support. During the pandemic it has been quite hard to be as involved in volunteer activities, but it has been extremely interesting to find out the different fascinating ways in which activities were taking place in such difficult times. In the future, I want to apply my public health major to continue helping the populations in most need.

Jerusalem

My name is Jerusalem Tamire, I am a Senior Economics student with dual minors in Neuroscience and Sociology and a Health and Medical Humanities certificate. I'm originally from Hosanna, Ethiopia and grew up in Addis Abeba and Maryland . Although, I am new to Community Based Learning at Drexel, I am apart of various civic engagement programs in Ethiopia and have co-founded a social consulting initiative. Throughout, my time here at Drexel I have been a Dornsife Global Development Scholar, a Global Engagement Scholar ,a member of the BRIDGE program, a Resident Assistant, an active Board member of the Drexel African Student's Association and currently the Vice President of the Sanitation Health Aid Relief Project. CBL provides a great opportunity interact with different communities and perspectives. I'm excited to learn from the faculty, students, and communities that I will engage with as a part of the CB-EL program!

Priyanka

My name is Priyanka Shah and I am a senior majoring in Criminology and Justice Studies with a concentration in policy. I am also pursuing a minor in Business Administration and I am a part of the Pennoni Honors college as well. I am from Princeton, New Jersey. CBL classes have fundamentally shaped my experience here at Drexel and I am excited to share my passion with fellow students and faculty. The CBL classes I have taken include Prison, Society, and You and Principles of Justice at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, Yoga at Kirkbride Recovery Center, Story Medicine at CHOP, and the Prison Reading Project. I also was a Teaching Assistant for the Sanctuary Cities class led by instructor and CBL Faculty Fellow, Steve Dolph. I think that CBL classes are the best way to learn because it is how you gain perspective and walk out of class not only having learned information and content, but also being changed by the people and environment that you interacted with. In addition to being a CBL / Engaged Learning, I also do other work with Lindy including being a Civic 101 TA Leader and being a facilitator for some of our internal programming including Coffee and Community and Lindy Intentional Community. Outside of Lindy, other work I do includes being the Director of Communication for Drexel’s Undergraduate Student Government and the treasurer for Drexel's Criminology Honors Society. I also work as a senior instructor at my hometown dance school and in my free time I like to spend time with my friends, binge watch TV shows, and explore Philadelphia.