Designing an International, Student-Led, Co-Curricular, Community-Engaged, Experiential Learning Project

This design case details the development of an international, student-led, co-curricular, community-engaged, experiential learning project during its first two years, during which staff and faculty guided and mentored undergraduate students as they developed a process for mentoring young writers in the US and Rwanda and creating an anthology of their stories. I discuss critical challenges and successes regarding the design of the project that were made during this period, following the organization of teams for mentoring young writers, editing the anthology, raising funds for printing, and implementing an evaluation plan. I conclude with implications for developing a project of this complexity and discuss the successes and failures that the project encountered during the first two years of its implementation (2008–2010).