Have a desire to know just how all of that relief money for Hurricane Katrina or 9/11 victims actually gets past the checkbook?

Lisa Hopper, an adjunct lecturer in the Honors College discussed her honors colloquium class and why it is literally changing the world.

Arizona Daily Wildcat: What is Honors 295H, Intro to the Spirit of Social Entrepreneurism?

Hopper: This is a class centered around the rebirth of social entrepreneurism, which is about raising a consciousness in students that want to not just have jobs but have careers and how that affects the world around them. It is a unique class; it’s very interactive.

Wildcat: How did you get into teaching this class?

Hopper: Dr. Wayne Decker approached me three years ago to have World Care, the non-profit humanitarian organization that I founded in 1994, participate with the HCET classes (Honors Civic Engagement Teams), as a program for teams of students to work on international projects. They get hands-on and real-life experiences instead of just theoretical (projects). The class gets them exposed to what’s going on around the world.

Wildcat: What does the course focus on?

Hopper: We focus primarily on how the non-profit world enhances the economy and how it affects countries in the micro and the macro world. Also, on students’ personal ambitions and how they are going to work within their careers. We also focus on recognizing and removing the smoke and mirrors of the non-profit world. We touch on economies, politics, religions and other influences that facilitate success or failure of programs around the world. We go into the financial and corruption side of humanitarian work and the types and different levels of non-profits.

Wildcat: What do students take away from the class?

Hopper: They have a better awareness about themselves and their purpose. By exposing them to different aspects of the working world and the non-profit world they gain a better understanding of where they want to go. There is more of a social knowledge of what the student can do for the world, not what the world can do for the student.

Wildcat: Is this generation more conscientious of worldly, societal problems?

Hopper: I think that your generation wants to have more experiences in the global world because it is so readily accessible. Your generation is more humble to recognize the values of working together as a whole world, not just about the U.S.

-compiled by Alex Garday