Understanding philanthropic traditions in societies. (PUL 5; PUL 2)

a) Summarizing basic terms (e.g., advocacy, charity, civil society, fund development, nonprofit organization, public policy) in philanthropy.

b) Connecting key historical events, people, trends, social movements and explaining their influence on philanthropy today.

c) Interpreting contemporary events, people, trends, and social movements and placing them in the broader context of philanthropy.

d) Examining philanthropic traditions by using a multi-disciplinary perspective (e.g. economics, history, philosophy, psychology, political science, religion, sociology).

e) Comparing and contrasting the nature of civil society and philanthropy across traditions, cultures and contexts.

I have different pieces of work that meet this learning objective in different ways. The Social Enterpreneur paper in PHST 301 was a great project. I found it to be so interesting and also challenging. I was able to connect the history of philanthropy in Mexico to the current status of the country. It was interesting to see that religion and mistrust in the government play a big role in the philanthropy and level of civic society. I was able to look at one nonprofit in specfic and the social entrepreneur who started the organization. The organization sought to improve the quality citizenship of youth and prevent negative outcomes in their lives. The organization started to work with schools and is recognized by the government as well. I was able to look at how civil society and philanthropy are shown throughout the country in comparison to other countries. In REL 379, I wrote a final reflection over the course (Religion and Philanthropy). I was able to identify civil society within gift-giving cultures and look at how giving is important to me. Through the Community Action Project by Professor Badertscher, I was able to place healthcare in the broader view on homeless outreach and how health impacts the homeless population. Each of thse projects helped me to truly understand how philanthropic traditions assist communities, why they matter, and provided me with more in-depth understanding of basic terms in philanthropy.