LITERACY LINKS is a model of engaged scholarship that builds virtual as well as tangible links between our parters: The University of Pittsburgh’s School of Education and local elementary schools in Pittsburgh (PA) and Urubamba (Cusco), Peru; the non-profit organization ProPeru and its host communities in the Sacred Valley in the Andes; and the teachers, community elders, graduate students, high school leaders, and young people who all worked together to make this ethnographic curriculum enhancement project possible.

Sponsored by the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Pittsburgh, we were able to embark on this pilot podcasting project.  Our podcasts are based on topics that Peruvian youth had shared were of concern to them, namely the endangered biodiversity of native foods and the dramatic, visible impact of global warming on Andean glaciers, particularly on the great Chicon glacier above their town.

Fourth grade students at each school research key issues and designed questions. Through Skype video chats we refined the framework. The Pitt team and the Peruvian kids  went out to gather visual evidence and to conduct interviews for the answers.  The synthesis of their ongoing dialogue and their forthright  findings will hearten, inspire, and motivate viewers to learn more about these topics.