2024-2025 JOIP Request for Proposals
The David Mathews Center for Civic Life is pleased to announce our Jean O’Connor-Snyder Internship Call for Proposals for the 2024-2025 academic year!
Through this program, we work with faculty and students from colleges and universities across the state. These individuals dedicate time to working alongside Alabamians who are striving to improve their communities. We are equally indebted to these community partners who welcome students and faculty into their hometowns to practice immersive civic learning together. Immersive civic learning is characterized by active, continuous participation in both formal and informal civic spaces, and through personal experiences with a community and its individuals.
A Weekend of Connection: The 2024 Jean O’Connor Snyder Internship Program Retreat
To end the month of January, the David Mathews Center headed south to host the 2024 Jean O’Connor Snyder Internship Program Retreat! Joined by over 30 students and faculty mentors from six colleges and universities across the state, interns spent the weekend exploring their projects, discovering more about civil rights and small towns in Alabama, and forming connections with one another.
Civic Dispatch: Summer in hometown fuels passion for rural communities
Jean O’Connor-Snyder intern Jessica Criswell recounts her summer in her hometown of Chatom, where she was able to reconnect with her community and childhood with a new perspective.
Civic Dispatch: Living democracy in Camden provides deep appreciation for hometown, role of citizens
Jean O’Connor-Snyder intern Kaitlin Stabler reflects on the relationships and experiences she had reconnecting with her hometown of Camden this summer.
Civic Dispatch: Spending summer in Elba becomes ‘best decision’
Jean O’Connor-Snyder intern Mikailie Caulder describes the impactful summer she had working with a wide variety of compassionate and vibrant members of the Elba community this summer, where she even rediscovered her dream of becoming a veterinarian.
A Look into Summer JOIP: Visits Across the State
During the month of July, the Mathews Center had the amazing opportunity to visit some of our Jean O’Connor-Snyder Interns from the University of Alabama, Troy University, and Auburn University. While visiting, our team got to have one-on-one time with the interns to discuss their experiences working with communities over the summer.
Civic Dispatch: A History of Fellowship
Jean O’Connor-Snyder intern Madi Skinner describes how the combined efforts of a local church can overcome barriers to create a more inclusive and lasting relationship within the community.
Civic Dispatch: Making a Home – Jasper’s Recovery Den
Jean O’Connor-Snyder intern Olivia Goble explains how a community member transformed her own hardships into passion and a purpose to create a safe haven in her hometown of Jasper.
Civic Dispatch: A Problem in a Hard Place Meets a Veteran’s Embrace
Jean O’Connor-Snyder intern Tanner Jones describes how the passion for education in one individual can create a lasting difference for the Walker County community, especially through collaborative efforts.
Civic Dispatch: Inspiring a Community Through Faith
Jean O’Connor-Snyder intern Madi Duboise shares how gospel and faith can not only bring together a local community, but create connections across the country, as well.
Civic Dispatch: Resilience
Jean O’Connor-Snyder intern Sadie Keller shares how the strength and persistence of individuals in the community will continue to make a lasting impact in Walker County.
Applied Democracy Exchanges: Communities as Classrooms, Students as Citizens
For the sixth session of Applied Democracy Exchanges, the Mathews Center welcomed faculty mentors, Mark Wilson and Nan Fairley, from Auburn University’s Living Democracy program, an immersive summer civic experience serving the communities of Camden, Chatom, Collinsville, and Elba. The event featured previous and present student interns as well as community partners to discuss more about the impact of the students’ civic learning experiences. The Living Democracy program is coordinated by both the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts at Auburn University and the David Mathews Center for Civic Life.
2023-24 JOIP Request for Proposals
The David Mathews Center for Civic Life is pleased to announce our Jean O’Connor-Snyder Internship Call for Proposals for the 2023-2024 academic year!
The DMC Returns to Montgomery for 2023 JOIP Intern Retreat
On Friday, January 27, the Mathews Center traveled to our state’s capital to host the 2023 Jean O’Connor-Snyder Internship Program Intern Retreat! Over 40 students and faculty mentors from seven colleges, universities, and community colleges across the state met at the Figh Pickett Barnes School House in Downtown Montgomery to get to know each other, learn about the DMC, and share their upcoming projects for the Spring semester.