Among US
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Hyderabad,
India
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Food For Thought
Food for Thought is a 2-hour event that aims to facilitate difficult discussions between Minerva students and local professionals regarding social issues that our society faces (e.g., mental health, sexuality, religion, etc.). We hope to find common ground ‘among’ our experiences and to spark understanding and awareness about each other’s experiences and the cities in which we live.
Food is a universal way to connect cultures. We decided to focus on dinner discussions because they offer an intimate and fun opportunity to get to know Indian culture through food and conversation. This will give us the platform to raise awareness and have a dialogue on the various social issues in this country.
Seoul,
South Korea
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Liberty In North Korea
In Seoul, AmongUs partnered with Liberty in North Korea (LiNK), an organization that aims to rescue and resettle North Korean defectors and change the international narratives around the North Korean issue from political wrestles to the humanitarian crisis haunting millions of North Korean soulsand.
We conducted several projects with LiNK to create dialogues among Minerva Students, North Koreans, and South Koreans and help LiNK identify exisiting engagement problems and propose solutions:
Masquerade Balls
One thing that North Koreans fantasize a lot about the western culture is masquerades. Thus, we cooperate with LiNK to host a masquerade ball to create a sense of community for North Korean defectors and give Minerva students a chance to interact with the locals.
NOrth Korean 10:01
We incorporated the awareness campaign into 10:01, a Minerva tradition where students share their cultures and countries with the diverse Minerva student body through food and different forms presentation. We invited Jessie Kim, a North Korean defector who started her own business in South Korea, to share her story in North Korea, why and how she got out, and the human side of the North Korean issues. Jessie also prepared Dububap, a traditional North Korean snack for students to get a taste of this mysterious and often misunderstood country.
Engagement programs
LiNK created the Changemakers program to equip individuals with the resource to raise awareness among the general public. However, of the 100 Changemakers, only two have acted on with their projects. We dissected the low motivation underlying the low return of the Changemaker program and proposes solutions to improve engagement.
Moreover, we helped LiNK strategize the best way to cooperate with other organization using their strengths and to engage with international students and Minerva students. We also provided the know-how of fundraising to solve for the problems faced by many under-resourced organizations.
San FranCisco,
USA
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Tender Souls with
Brenton Gieser
We partnered with Brenton Gieser, a local photographer and documentarian, to explore his exhibit on life in the Tenderloin, Tender Souls with the Minerva Community.
Visit the Tender Souls Exhibit here >> https://www.tendersoulsproject.com/
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Empathy through Active Listening with Randy Carter
Randy Carter, a formerly incarcerated social worker, came in to share his experience and expertise on active listening through an interactive workshop.
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Solano prison visit
Randy Carter, a formerly incarcerated social worker, came in to share his experience and expertise on active listening through an interactive workshop.
Read this article by Los Angeles Time to know more about the program: http://bit.ly/latimesolano
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Talks with people experiencing homelessness
The leaders of Among Us led small groups/pairs of Minerva students to start conversations with some of the individuals on the streets of the Tenderloin to gain a better understanding of the people in our neighboring community.
Read this article by Aspen from the Class of 2022 to know about the stories we heard on the street: https://www.minervaquest.com/2018/11/22/faces-of-the-streets-drugs-and-homelessness/
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Volunteer
Organizations with volunteered with
