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Creating
University/High School/Community Agency Partnerships Focused on Hiv/Aids:
A New York City Example, and a Call For International Participation
Helen Rodnite
Lemay
Stony Brook
University, New York
(Estados
Unidos)
and
Lynn. D.
Salvage Briarcliffe
College, Patchogue, New York (Estados
Unidos)
This paper has a dual purpose:
1. To report on a project addressing the following questions: In what
ways can including workers and clients from an AIDS Service Center in a
credit-bearing University History course on AIDS and the Social History of
Medicine enrich the experiences of all students? What problems arise in
this situation?
2. To encourage networking among College or University representatives
who have engaged in projects involving community partnerships focused on
HIV/AIDS with the eventual goal of joining forces and profiting from one
another’s experiences.
1. Since 1998, Stony Brook has made AIDS the focus of undergraduate
courses, such as “AIDS and the Social History of Medicine,” “AIDS,
Race and Gender in the Black Community,” “The Economics of AIDS.”
Since 1999, we have included high school students (generally from low
income minority neighborhoods with high HIV+ incidence) in these classes.
Tuition and fees are donated by the Provost’s Office. Our program has
served as a national model, supported by United States Centers for Disease
Control funds. This academic year, we expanded our outreach efforts to
include clients and staff of the AIDS Service Center of New York City (ASC)
in our group of college and high school students. ASC is a community
organization in existence since 1990 that provides services for
HIV/AIDS-affected individuals. Total class enrollment is 45. Our reported
results are based on anonymous questionnaires on attitudes about AIDS in
society, and by opinions expressed in class discussion and written work.
Our conclusions are as follows: a. Just as high school and college
students discover themselves as agents in relation to the AIDS pandemic
and recognize the possibility of offering leadership within their
communities, so ASC members enrich our understanding of HIV/AIDS and
perceive for themselves the possibility of earning a college degree. b.
Just because clients and staff of ASC live and work with HIV/AIDS, they
are not immune to societal prejudices about the epidemic [e.g. it is
caused by moral breakdown, etc.]
2. Colleges and Universities are in a unique position to work with
community organizations. This work can be greatly enhanced by adding an
international perspective: Models for cooperation in one country can
provide examples that improve the work of others. The realities of
problems in other parts of the world and the struggle for solutions can
enrich the educational experiences of all who participate in the exchange.
The author proposes establishing an international consortium of
educational institutions that are involved in community-based HIV/AIDS
work, with the eventual goal of writing grant proposals for conferences
and educational exchange among students and faculty. Universities should
move out of the ivory tower and work closely with high schools and AIDS
service organizations for mutual benefit.
About Helen Rodnite Lemay
Helen Rodnite Lemay has been a member of the Stony Brook History
Department since 1970. Her rank is Distinguished Teaching Professor. She
received her Ph.D. from Columbia University, New York. Her publications
are in the fields of medieval medicine, medieval science and philosophy,
and teaching AIDS. She has directed a University/Community program on
HIV/AIDS since 1998, funded by the US Centers for Disease Control. She has
presented papers on this program in Mumbai India, Granada Spain, Dubai UAE,
and various conferences in the USA.
About Lynn. D. Salvage
Since 2001, Lynn has served as President of Briarcliffe
College in Patchogue, New York, the Sanford Brown Institute of New York
City, an institution that offers programs in the Allied Health
professions, and the Katharine Gibbs School in New York City, an
institution with 1,800 students. All three of these institutions enroll a
large percentage of inner-city minority students. |
