General Information

 

Project SHINE, a national service-learning initiative, builds partnerships between colleges, universities and community-based organizations by linking college students with older immigrants and refugees who want to learn English and study for and acquire U.S. citizenship.  Students tutor the elders at temples, churches, community centers, senior housing, and classrooms throughout the various communities of Philadelphia (and the other cities where SHINE is located).  This helps the elders (and the students) to become more actively engaged in their communities.

On the national level, Project SHINE is coordinated through the Temple University’s Center for Intergenerational Learning.  On the local level, Project SHINE is currently located at 18 institutions of higher education in 14 cities.  Since it began in 1997, over 3000 college students have provided more than 60,000 hours of service to 9000 older immigrants and refugees across the country.

Students can participate in SHINE in three ways:

  • through a course

  • as a volunteer

  • through work-study

If a student is participating through a class, Project SHINE staff will work with him/her to place the student in a site where assignment requirements can be met.

Project SHINE in the classroom

Project SHINE may be incorporated into a course in a variety of ways.  A professor may choose to offer it as an option in place of another assignment.  For example, a professor may have an assignment where students choose to do a standard research paper or to participate in Project SHINE and do a paper on a part of their experience relevant to the course.  Professors teaching courses in areas such as education and immigration may choose simply to require students to participate in Project SHINE or another program and to do a paper, project, or presentation on their experience.  If he/she did not want to incorporate SHINE into the course assignments, but did want the students to know about it, he/she could invite a representative from Project SHINE to do an in-class presentation.  For more information about incorporating SHINE into a course or having a presentation about SHINE in your class, please fill out and submit this form.

Questions and concerns

Deciding to participate in a ten-week program always brings up some questions, concerns, and even anxieties.  Please visit our FAQ page.  If you have further questions please .