MIT: Independent Activities Period: IAP

IAP 2013 Activities by Category - Public Service and Community Outreach

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AMSA Community Service Event

Anne Huang

Jan/12 Sat 08:00AM-12:00PM Hope Lodge

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required

Come help cook AMSA breakfast at the AstraZeneca Hope Lodge! The AstraZeneca Hope Lodge is a free facility providing cancer patients seeking treatment in the area with free lodging and care. As they put it, it is a "home away from home" for these patients.

We will be serving breakfast at 10AM on January 12th, 2013, so we will be leaving for the Lodge a little past 8AM. Transportation details will be disclosed later, but all expenses will be covered by AMSA.

Space is limited so please sign up here! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFdzLUwtaC00Xzh2Q2g1YU9fSmZib1E6MQ

Sponsor(s): American Medical Student Association
Contact: Anne Huang, ANNE2014@MIT.EDU


Brownfield Redevelopment Workshop

Kerry Bowie, Director of Brownfields & Environmental Justice

Jan/25 Fri 09:00AM-05:00PM 9-450A

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Limited to 20 participants

Kerry Bowie, Director of Brownfields & Environmental Justice for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, will lead a one-day Brownfield Redevelopment Workshop (not for credit).  Bowie and other guest speakers will provide a general survey of Brownfields, covering topics such as assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment while examining technical, legal, and financial challenges.  The format of the workshop will include a general overview, guest speakers, discussion, and a field trip to a Boston area brownfields site.  Graduate and undergraduate students welcome; no prior brownfield experience is required.

Signup: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dG9MQ0lRMl8zZUctcG5BbGxyYVBjeXc6MQ

Sponsor(s): Urban Studies and Planning
Contact: Katherine Buckingham, 513.382.8632, kbucking@mit.edu


Careers in NonProfits

Laura Perrigo, Career Assistant, Linden McEntire, Public Service Center

Jan/23 Wed 05:00PM-06:30PM 4-145

Enrollment: Sign up on CareerBridge

If you are wondering what a career in the non-profit sector might be like or what opportunities are available in your field in the non-profit world, this is the workshop for you. This session will discuss the many reasons that people are drawn to the non-profit sector and help you assess what might draw you to this type of career. You will have the opportunity to hear from and ask questions of a panel comprised of individuals in various fields and job functions at local non-profit organizations.

Sponsor(s): Global Education and Career Development, Public Service Center
Contact: Laura Perrigo, 12-170, (617) 253-4733, lperrigo@mit.edu


CityDays IAP: One community together in community service

Kristi Gundrum Kebinger, Community Volunteer Administrator, Public Service Center

Jan/25 Fri 11:00AM-05:00PM Twenty Chimneys, Free lunch and transportation.

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/22
Limited to 150 participants
Prereq: none

We invite all members of the MIT Community to join us for the second annual community service day, CityDays IAP! 

First, have a delicious, free lunch at Twenty Chimneys. Then, head out into the Cambridge and Boston communities to volunteer with two local organizations:

1) The Greater Boston Food Bank, Boston, works to end hunger in eastern Massachusetts. Volunteers will be inspecting, sorting, and repacking donated grocery products to be distributed to hunger relief agencies.

2) Cradles to Crayons provides poor and homeless children with supplies. Volunteers will be sorting and packaging donations into "C2C KidPacks," individualized packages of essential children's items ordered for specific in-need kids.

Public transportation fees to/from the service placement will be provided.

Please register by January 22nd:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGJDRWtfQ2VuXy1iOHdHOHBhaGlDTUE6MQ#gid=0

Sponsor(s): Public Service Center
Contact: Kristi Gundrum Kebinger, W20-549, 617-253-8968, serviceday@MIT.EDU


Community-university partnerships in Boston: The experience of the MIT GreenHouse Studio Symposium

Patricia Molina Costa

Jan/17 Thu 05:00PM-09:00PM 9-450

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/14

Strategies for solving urban planning problems have become increasingly global in nature, reflecting the similarity in challenges cities face in a globalized economy and a changing physical climate. In order to share knowledge across boundaries, planning institutions increasingly seek to understand how similar problems are being addressed from different cultural perspectives, methodologies, and legal regulations. This approach formed the basis for the Parallel Workshop for Sustainable & Equitable Neighborhood Revitalization held in the spring of 2012 by the MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP) and the Departamento de Urbanística y Ordenación del Territorio (DUyOT) at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM). The workshop focused on contemporary urban challenges from two very different perspectives and formulated proposals for two different neighborhoods—Ciudad de los Angeles in Madrid, and Fields Corner in Boston— working closely with community-based organizations. On the occasion of the exhibition, a half-day symposium will be held to discuss the experience of community-university partnerships between MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning and community organizations from the Boston area.

5:00-6:15pm: A Plan for Sustainability in Fields Corner: the GreenHouse Studio collaboration with VietAID

6:15-6:30pm: Break

6:30-8:00pm: Community-university partnerships in the Boston area: reflections from diverse experiences

8:00-9:00pm: Exhibition opening

Sponsor(s): Urban Studies and Planning
Contact: Patricia Molina Costa, pmolina@mit.edu


Creating a Non-Profit Enterprise

Janet Rickershauser, Senior Lawyer, Charles L. Cooney, Robert T. Haslam (1911) Professor of Chemical Engineering, Alyssa Fitzgerald, Lawyer

Jan/31 Thu 01:00PM-03:30PM E70, 12ft Floor

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/04
Prereq: None

Not all teams achieve impact by creating a for-profit enterprise.  Organizations like Ashoka, MITx, New Profit, and The Robin Hood Foundation are organized and reach their target audiences as non-profit organizations.

The seminar will enable members of the MIT community to further their understanding of how 501(c)(3) status can help them better deploy their technologically-based projects, and is open to students, faculty, and staff who have practical questions about how to organize and operate a non-profit. 

Sue Abbott, Janet Rickershauser, and Alyssa Fitzgerald, core attorneys in the Tax-Exempt Organizations practice group at Goodwin Procter LLP, a Boston-based Am Law 50 firm, serve the legal needs of many of the Greater Boston Area’s most prominent non-profits. 

Since the inception of these free seminars in 2003, we have provided the legal tools for achieving and maintaining 501(c)(3) status to over 1400 organizations in the Boston area. 

Over the 2.5 hour seminar, we propose to cover:

 

Sponsor(s): Chemical Engineering
Contact: Jose Estabil, E70-1270, 617 253-5978, JJE@MIT.EDU


Energy and Climate Underground: MBTA Facilities and Tunnel Tour

Ethan Feuer, Student Activities Coordinator

Jan/25 Fri 09:00AM-01:30PM Location TBD, Meetup location will be sent out to participants

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Limited to 25 participants

Ever wonder how the MBTA really works?  Join a special tour of public transit operation centers and tunnels with MBTA staff. We will visit sites such as the MBTA Operations Control Center and the Haymarket MBTA Station Central Artery and discuss how America’s oldest subway system is preparing for climate and weather emergencies in the post-Sandy world.

Registration for this event here

Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative
Contact: Ethan Feuer, E19-370, 617-452-3199, EFEUER@MIT.EDU


ESL Program for MIT Service Employees' Workshops

Nancy P Kelly, ESL Program Coordinator

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: None

The MIT ESL Program for Service Employees is giving a series of workshops during the IAP period January 29-31. This is open to all. If you are interested in volunteering, are already a volunteer and want to improve your skills, or are just curious about the ESL Program for Service employees - please come!

Topic: "Stress and Intonation Patterns in English" - Jane Dunphy

Tuesday, Jan 29, 12-2pm, 66-154 - CANCELLED

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up

Single session event

 

Topic: “Helpful Hints for ESL Tutoring (and why we are having loads of fun!)- Monia Doandes and Elaine Aufiero

Thursday, Jan 31, 12-2pm, 66-154

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up

Single session event

 

 

Contact: Nancy P. Kelly, 10-342, 781-296-7600, npkelly@mit.edu


Teaching Intonation and Phrasing

Jan/29 Tue 12:00PM-02:00PM (CANCELED)

Research shows that control of stress, intonation and phrasing (called suprasegmentals) in English is more important for comprehensibility than complete accuracy of the sound system. Main stress, intonation and phrasing patterns of American English will be reviewed and materials designed for teaching will be explored.

 


Tips on Teaching

Jan/31 Thu 12:00PM-02:00PM 66-154

Find out why tutoring MIT Service Employees in ESL can enrich your life. Learn how a small investment of your time can go a long way in helping colleagues learn English. You will hear our helpful tips for tutoring, our inspirational stories, as well as why tutors end up learning as much as their students.


Games for Planners

Ezra Glenn

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions

During IAP, we'll try to keep it light with some fun games that help hone your planning skills. Learn to speak, draw, and build, and have fun in the process.

Please come join us -- the more, the merrier (or the messier, or the muddier, or something like that...).  Prizes, food, celebrity guests, etc.

Sponsor(s): Urban Studies and Planning
Contact: Ezra Glenn, 7-337, 617 253-2024, EGLENN@MIT.EDU


Games for Planners: Gab!

Jan/15 Tue 03:00PM-05:00PM 9-450A

All planners need to feel comfortable speaking in public.  Ideally, you'll know what you are talking about, but being able to speak extemporaneously on an subject is a great skill to have as well, and can really help loosen you up and get you comfortable with speaking in front of an audience.

Ezra Glenn


Games for Planners: Pictionary

Jan/29 Tue 03:00PM-05:00PM 9-450A

Good planning, design, and public process often depend on effective visual representation.  Come play this classic party game, with a planning twist.  Can you draw "Floor Area Ratio"?  "Foreclosure"?  How about "Emerald Necklace"...?

Ezra Glenn


Get Involved! How to find Meaningful Volunteer & Service Work

Jennifer Earls, Prehealth Advisor

Jan/29 Tue 07:00PM-08:00PM 4-145

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/28
Prereq: None

Service to others is at the heart of a career in healthcare and human services. Volunteering can also help you to learn about your interests, values, and skills while figuring out your career path or applying to graduate or professional school.

In this session sponsored by MIT Prehealth Advising, you will learn how to find and get involved in health-related and other volunteer opportunities that interest you and that are manageable with your schedule at MIT and beyond.

To register in advance, visit MIT CareerBridge at www.myinterfase.com/mit/student/, click on the "Events" tab, and select "Workshop" from the "Category" drop-down menu. You will see a full list of workshops. Click on the workshop you'd like to register for.

Questions? Contact Jennifer Earls: jearls@mit.edu
Event sponsored by MIT Prehealth Advising.

Sponsor(s): Global Education and Career Development
Contact: Jennifer Earls, 12-185, 617 258-9513, JEARLS@MIT.EDU


Hands-on Weatherization Training

Ethan Feuer, Student Activities Coordinator

Feb/01 Fri 12:30PM-05:30PM Emmanuel Church, Meetup location will be sent out to participants

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required

Buildings account for 80% of energy used in Cambridge.  Maximizing the energy efficiency of building through weatherization is a top priority. MITEI is partnering with the Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET) to offer students an opportunity to weatherize a Boston-based building. At this training session, you will learn and apply a wide-range of weatherization skills and also learn how to do a thorough energy-use audit.

Event registration form may be found here

Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative, Public Service Center
Contact: Ethan Feuer, E19-370, 617 452-3199, EFEUER@MIT.EDU


Homeless Children: America's Newest Outcasts

John H. Wong, Ph.D., DUSP, '92

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions

This year is the 25th anniversary of the Education of Homeless Children and Youth Program—America's primary response to critical problems in the education of homeless children. This seminar, led by DUSP alum John Wong (PhD 1992), will examine the accomplishments and shortcomings of this legislation, with the goal of improving the lives of the more than one million homeless children in schools.

Sponsor(s): Urban Studies and Planning
Contact: Ezra Glenn, 7-337, 617 253-2024, EGLENN@MIT.EDU


Jan/22 Tue 10:00AM-12:00PM 9-450A
Jan/23 Wed 10:00AM-12:00PM 9-450A

John H. Wong, Ph.D., DUSP, '92


Urban Planning Film Series: Really Long Films

Ezra Glenn

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions

For IAP, the department's ongoing Urban Planning Film Series continues with a twist: since there are no classes, p-sets, or other distractions to contend with, this month the series will feature some of the great LONG (or even SUPER-LONG) films in the genre.

 

Sponsor(s): Urban Studies and Planning
Contact: Ezra Glenn, 7-337, 617 253-2024, EGLENN@MIT.EDU


When the Levees Broke, by Spike Lee

Jan/17 Thu 02:00PM-06:00PM 3-133, end times vary

Subtitled "A Requiem in Four Acts," Spike Lee's heart-rending portrait of New Orleans in the wake of the destruction manages to be both intimate and epic.  Originally aired as a four-part HBO miniseries, the film tells the heartbreaking personal stories of those who endured this harrowing ordeal--yet, somehow, amidst the ruins, the people of New Orleans are finding new hope and strength as the city rises from the ashes.

Ezra Glenn


Half the Sky, by Maro Chermayeff

Jan/24 Thu 02:00PM-06:00PM 3-133

Originally aired as a four-hour television series for PBS, this epic work introduces women and girls who are living under some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable---and fighting bravely to change them.  Traveling with intrepid reporter Nicholas Kristof and A-list celebrity advocates, the film reflects viable and sustainable options for empowerment and offers an actionable blueprint for transformation.

Ezra Glenn


Public Housing, by Fred Wiseman

Jan/31 Thu 02:00PM-06:00PM 3-133

This cinema-verite documentary captures daily life at the Ida B. Wells public housing development in Chicago. The film illustrates some of the experiences of people living in conditions of extreme poverty, including the work of the tenants council, street life, the role of police, job training, drug education, teenage mothers, dysfunctional families, elderly residents, nursery school, and after school teenage programs.

Ezra Glenn