LaGuardia Humanitarian Initiative (LHI)
Mission Statement: LaGuardia Humanitarian Initiative is an inclusive platform for students, faculty, and staff foregrounding pedagogical inquiry, civic engagement and academic service learning by facilitating a year-long college-wide inquiry of a global issue as addressed by the United Nations. Through partnerships with local and global NGOs, students gain access to career opportunities and professional development workshops. Ultimately students are mentored on how to translate their classroom learning to advocate, educate, and support their communities.
About Us: LaGuardia Humanitarian Initiative (LHI) aligns with the vision and praxis of the Association for Experiential Education by offering a platform for students to engage in deep learning and accomplish the goal of education; i.e., as John Dewey (1916) notes, education becomes relevant and meaningful to students only when they understand the reasons for learning the academic content.
LHI fosters institutional improvement by opening up multiple avenues for students across the college to become socially responsible global citizens. In addition, LHI projects attend to and support the diverse experiences of students by providing them with opportunities to learn, design, deliver, and translate their classroom knowledge and experiences through active partnership with peers, faculty, and staff at LaGuardia, as well as with members and administration of partnering non-profit organizations.