Faculty Resources

“The thing I enjoyed the most and that meant the most to the students was the direct contact with community members. Students went out into the community and community members visited the class. I was surprised how much it meant to the students to interview local amateur musicians and get a direct sense of the importance of music in people’s lives.” - Professor M. Hunter, Music and in the Community, Music

What is community-engaged teaching?

Courses, independent studies, or honors projects that do one or more of the following:

  • Helps students understand public issues both in theory and through concrete, contextual, and practical experiences.
  • Partner with non-profit or governmental organizations to contribute to the organization’s mission in some way.
  • Connect curricular concepts to community needs in order to enhance learning, promote active citizenship, and foster reciprocal ties between campus and community.
  • See examples of past community-engaged courses.

McKeen Center Resources for Community-Engaged Learning

Community-Engaged Courses and Independent Studies

  • Assistance with identifying community partners and exploring community-engagement options for courses
  • Mini-grants to support costs associated with community-engaged courses, e.g. transportation for students, honoraria for community speakers
  • Funding for Community Course Liaisons, who are students hired to support the community engagement components of a course
  • Customized orientations for course participants to prepare them for community engagement experiences
  • Support for students pursuing community-engaged independent studies or honors projects
  • Information and resources for students who wish to continue engaging with community organizations outside of the classroom

Symposia / Public Events

  • Collaboration through What Matters dialogue series to organize campus conversations about topics of public concern
  • Assistance identifying speakers for symposia and public events
  • Co-sponsorship of events
  • Collaborating in design of symposia with topics related to the public good