Emma Schwartz '24 interned with the Human Rights Coalition. She then developed her thesis through questions and relationships that emerged through internships, volunteering, and organizing. Photo: Grace Fang '27.
Community-Engaged Learning
Students previously funded for CPGC summer internships, students working with faculty on community-engaged learning partnerships at Haverford College, and students who volunteer or otherwise engage with existing Haverford College partners, are eligible for funding to advance community-engaged learning. Students who can demonstrate community invitation and interest from new partners are also eligible to apply.
Community-engaged learning (CEL) is a community-led action, research, or learning experience that employs critically reflective practice to better understand positionality and social responsibility while developing and leveraging clear skills toward community-desired outputs, outcomes, and impact.
This specific definition results from discussion across several CPGC Steering Committees between 2016 and 2020. Its roots in community-desired outcomes reflect the aspirationally decolonizing commitments of the CPGC and the networks involved in funded initiatives.
The Essential Ingredients of Community-Engaged Learning
- Community-articulated desires
- Student application of academic and professional skills
- Clear output and desired outcome aligned with community interest
Please note that the CPGC values ongoing relationships with the justice organizations where students intern. If a community-based organization, nonprofit, or other host identifies an issue they feel needs greater amplification, students may apply to the CEL fund to support on-campus events that raise awareness in aligned ways. Students are always encouraged to apply to additional funding sources on campus, as the CPGC's primary funding purpose is to support off-campus, engaged learning.
Examples of Community-Engaged Learning
Public Scholarship: Actions and Events that Educate the Broader Public
- Following a popular education approach to learning more about the desires and interests of the communities they serve, New Sanctuary Movement launched a campaign to expand access to Driver’s Licenses: Driving PA Forward. Students shared educational information with citizens and influencers. Funds may be used to support student transportation, make signs or informational materials, etc.
- Responding to Pennsylvania’s especially high rates of mass incarceration and solitary confinement, The Human Rights Coalition has developed a campaign, Solidarity not Solitary. Funds may be used to support students advancing this campaign through student transportation, hosting events, and otherwise diffusing educational information on the issue.
- Through work with HIAS-PA, the Abolitionist Law Center, the New Sanctuary Movement, the Grupo Apoyo Mutuo, and other partners, students have sometimes wished to invite guests to campus, related to public education in alignment with the organization's mission. When campus-based awareness-raising flows from off-campus desires and complements mission, this kind of activity is also fundable.
Curricular Development: Educational Materials that Support Justice Initiatives
- Building on an ongoing action research initiative, Migration Encounters is working to develop curriculum to support K-12 students’ deepened understanding of migration and human dignity. Purchase of materials, hosting meetings, or other work that advance these efforts through student work and collaboration are welcome.
- The Ticha Project continuously organizes and mobilizes knowledge on Colonial Valley Zapotec. As students advance particular areas of understanding, curricular materials for schoolchildren in Zapotec communities could potentially be designed and mobilized by students.
Participatory Research: Projects and Senior Theses
- Amanda Grolig’s ‘19 senior thesis, “Restorative Justice Education and Masculine Flexibility,” resulted from and added to collaboration with Let’s Circle Up. Let's Circle Up is a restorative justice program based in the State Correctional Institution-Phoenix. Amanda used funding to support transportation back and forth to SCI-Phoenix, and also to organize some related LCU workshops on the outside.
- ShuMin He '19 responded to personal and community interests in amplifying historically marginalized stories in her thesis, "Historical Memory of Chinese Railroad Workers in America." Shu used funding to support travel to the West Coast, where she was able to conduct interviews.
- Ariel Censor '20 worked with an external evaluation organization on a project, "Researching for Action: Assessing Federally Funded After-school Programs," using funding to support transportation to and from sites in the greater Philadelphia area.