Service learning projects provide students with more than just an opportunity to venture outside the confines of the classroom and get experience helpful to their careers, Jesse Hunting said.

"It's an experience that could not have been duplicated through any internship," said Hunting (junior-landscape architecture), who helped rebuild vacant lots in Harrisburg as part of a class.

Hunting was part of a student panel discussion during Saturday's conference, "A Blueprint for the Public Scholarship of Service Learning."

More than 100 students and faculty members gathered in Heritage Hall to pool their ideas and express their concerns for infiltrating service learning into the Penn State curriculum.

Hunting worked with community members to turn empty lots into civic spaces like gardens and playgrounds.

"It's about engaging the community and getting them to feel like they are a part of the project," Hunting said.

Public scholarship can help transform Penn State into a postmodern university by changing the way students view problems like poverty and racism, said Lakshman Yapa, professor of geography, who spoke at the conference.

"Most people think of poverty as an economic problem," he said. "That prevents us from improving the quality of life." Community projects combat poverty by working directly with residents to tackle social problems, he said.

Because a service learning minor is being developed at Penn State, the conference was an opportunity for students and faculty to collaborate on the future of public scholarship, Jodi Vender, conference coordinator, said.

"We don't have a comprehensive list of faculty that have used these programs in the classroom," she said.

Some participating communities are more receptive to outside intervention than others, said Corinne Thatcher (junior-Latin American studies), who worked with low-income communities in Philadelphia. "There's a lot of apathy in the inner-city," she said, adding that residents are often skeptical of the help students can provide.

Thatcher also worked to build communities in New Mexico and said they were more welcoming of outside assistance than those in Philadelphia.

The group's initial plan included a blueprint for developing an outdoor community center in New Mexico. After discussing the plan with the residents, the group decided to add an open space for community meetings, Thatcher said.

"You realize that you need to tailor your projects to different communities," she said. Service learning projects help to develop critical thinking skills and establish friendships across racial and economic lines, Thatcher said.

"Service learning has showed me how diverse and complex this world really is," she said.