Let's Chat--Cultivating Community University Dialogue

From the home of the Paulo Freire Democratic Project and non-profit community organization Padres Unidos, the Chapman University Padres Unidos Partnership presents this truly unique coffee table textbook, Let's Chat: Cultivating Community University Dialogue - A Coffee Table Textbook on Partnerships. The volume presents a collection of community stories, concepts and analyses that highlight the journey of border crossings between two co-existing neighbors: a non-profit community organization and a university. Stories from community residents and faculty members represent how they disrupted the barriers that typically divide us by reconceptualizing how universities and communities can work together to reshape the intellectual landscape and reconfigure power differentials.

Written with and by the community, this book represents a break-away genre that privileges the "voices of the people" (Freire), accompanied by academic voices, in a format that is accessible, aesthetic and attractive to both community and university audiences. Cafecitos punctuate each chapter to elicit dialogue, reflection and action towards defining and developing community university partnerships.

This book will be useful to:

- academics interested in partnerships, public pedagogy, and community-based research

- students involved in community engagement/service learning

- community organizations

- immigrant families who reveal their wisdom in stories about self, others, and community building within the Chapman University Padres Unidos partnership

Let's Chat presents valuable content in a new and unique format that makes it perfect for classroom teaching in a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses.