Academic Director

Margarita Dubocq

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Introduction:

Hi! My name is Margarita Dubocq and I am the Academic Director of the Encuentro Dominicano program.  I am also the instructor of EDP 362: The Dominican Republic in Context and EDP 461: The Power of One: Poverty, Sustainable Development & Social Justice Discernment. They are service-learning classes that take a look at different issues of development that the Dominican Republic encounters, from multiple angles. We will meet for a total of four hours each week in the classroom and twice a week you will go to your service sites.  The courses are a combination of lecture, seminar and community service.  Another one of my functions is to oversee your service-learning projects, which take place at various schools, orphanages, meal programs, and other sites in and around the city of Santiago. Apart from my duties relating to the student academic experience, I also have various administrative duties that range from program finances to special development projects at the ILAC center.

Education:

Master of Science in Counseling in College Student Affairs, Creighton University, 2008.

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in Marketing, Finance and International Business, Creighton University, 2004.

Background:

I was born and raised in Santiago, Dominican Republic, where the Encuentro Dominicano program has its home. After finishing high school, I was given the opportunity to attend Creighton University and, with that, I started seeing the world through a new perspective. I quickly became involved with ILAC because I wanted to get to know my own country in the way my Creighton peers described it, and so I signed up to participate in the ILAC Summer Health Program my first summer after starting college. That experience unknowingly changed the course of my life.

Upon graduating from college, I once again participated in the ILAC Summer Health Program as a Coordinator, and I volunteered to host the high school groups that do service immersion trips in the D.R. through ILAC. That led to me starting to work at the ILAC office at Creighton for the next 3.5 years. During that time, I also completed my Master's degree at Creighton.

When I graduated from graduate school, I took on a new challenge by moving to Baltimore to work at Loyola University Maryland's Center for Community Service and Justice. While there, I coordinated community service and immersion programs related to hunger and homelessness, co-led the Loyola delegation to the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice, hosted events that connected service and spirituality, and volunteered to participate in two Spring Break Outreach programs and the Encounter El Salvador trip. My experiences at Loyola gave me greater depth of understanding of a variety of social justice issues, and showed me how to educate students through service. I am excited to be back to the Creighton and ILAC families, and to share this experience with the Encuentro Dominicano students.