Upcoming International Symposium on Service-Learning

 ISSL 2026 Save the Date

  • Theme:
    Infrastructure Adaptions and Resilience in Service-Learning: Disruptive or Progressive?
    Re-imagining Higher Education’s Local and Global Engagements
  • Date:
    November 30 – December 3, 2026
  • Location:
    Stellenbosch University
    Stellenbosch, South Africa
  • Call for abstracts:
    To be announced soon
  • Inquiries:
    ISSL@sun.ac.za

 

Symposium purpose

Held every two years at international locations, the purpose of the International Symposium on Service-Learning is to promote global citizenship and the scholarship of engagement. Additionally, the focus will be on building transnational relationships and participation in service-learning. These focal points will be threaded throughout a variety of presentation types and formats to allow for meaningful dialogue among academicians, community partners, students, and other professionals.

The international symposium aims to:

  1. Increase the scientific contribution to service-learning
  2. Strengthen networking between different institutions of higher education and community partners on a global scale
  3. Enhance student engaged citizenship
  4. Proliferate participation through both theoretical and applied service-learning as an innovative and transformative pedagogical tool in higher education

Symposium background

The International Symposium on Service-Learning (ISSL), Service-Learning as a Global Movement: Transforming Communities & Higher Education continues to build on the momentum generated by past symposia.

  • The 1st ISSL entitled Service-Learning Models for the 21st Century: Intercommunity, Interdisciplinary, International was held at Stellenbosch University in Stellenbosch, South Africa, in 2005.
  • The 2nd ISSL, entitled Service-Learning in Higher Education: Paradigms and Challenges, was held in 2007 at the University of Indianapolis in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
  • The 3rd ISSL was held in November 2009 at the University of Indianapolis campus in Athens, Greece titled Service-Learning in Higher Education: Educators, Communities, and Students.
  • The 4th ISSL titled Service-Learning in Higher Education: Connecting the Global to the Local was held in September 2011 in Ningbo, China.
  • The 5th ISSL titled Service-Learning across the Globe: from Local to Transnational was held in November 2013 in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Symposium themes

In our quest to contribute to a transnational service-learning pedagogy, proposals could cover one of the following:

  • Student and faculty engagement
  • Conceptual frameworks
  • Curricular design and pedagogical techniques
  • Transformative research
  • Cross-border connections
  • Inter- multi- and trans-disciplinary initiatives
  • Impact of service-learning experiences
  • Collaborations between higher education institutions and community partners
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