Urban-Rural Immersion Program

The Urban Rural Immersion Program is a one-week, in-person immersion for college students of urban and rural backgrounds. By convening urban and rural students for an immersive, cross-cultural learning experience, individuals emerge as Bridgers who feel bonded to one another and skilled to cross divides on their campuses and beyond. Participants engage in dialogues, field trips, and civic outings to build perspective and understanding of urban and rural life.

The program includes FREE single-occupancy hotel accommodations, all meals, and a transportation of up to $50 for in-state (MN) students and up to $150 for out-of-state students.

Facilitator Bios:

Harry C. Boyte is a civic organizer and theorist of the public work framework of civic engagement and democracy. He founded the Center for Democracy and Citizenship at the Humphrey Institute (now School) of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. He also created Public Achievement, an international civic empowerment initiative for young people which spread to dozens of American communities and more than 20 countries. In the 1960s he worked as a field secretary for Martin Luther King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and was involved in the Citizenship Schools that laid the foundations for the Civil Rights Movement. He is now Senior Scholar in Public Work Philosophy at the Institute for Public Life and Work.

Marie Ström is a democracy educator who grew up in South Africa. She was active in the struggle to end Apartheid, the decades-long system of legalized oppression of Black South Africans. For 20 years she directed the educational work of the non-partisan Institute for Democracy in South Africa, working at the coal face of the country’s transition to democracy. Working in fifteen different African countries, she conducted training for citizen leaders in diverse professions and community organizations, as well as for elected leaders at all levels of government. She has lived in the United States for almost 25 years and is a co-founder and Director of Education and Training at the Institute for Public Life and Work.