Biosketch:

Cara Ciminillo is a doctoral student in the Social and Comparative Analysis of Education Program at the University of Pittsburgh. Her area of focus is International Development in Education with special interest in International Service-Learning. Cara has 10 years of experience in participating in service-learning programs. She has also served as an AmeriCorps VISTA for 2 years. For the past five years, Cara has worked with Visions Service Adventures, International, (http:www.visionsserviceadventures.com) leading teenagers on service trips in the Caribbean, Australia and the Sea Islands of South Carolina. Currently, Cara is working on a dissertation that explores the complexities of substance and subtleties that exist in a community service learning experience within the conceptual framing of reciprocity specifically drawing on her own experience with Visions.

Dissertation Abstract: