The Phillips Brooks House Center for Public Service and Engaged Scholarship created the Mindich Program for Engaged Scholarship, to integrate academics, public service, and community engagement.
The Office of Enrichment Programs and Division of Service learning at Harvard Medical School assists students in developing quality service programs locally and internationally.
In October 2014, the FAS Standing Committee on Public Service held a “Connecting Community Service to the Classroom” symposium that brought in national experts to share best practices.
This research paper provides an overview of the complex topics, personal and collective challenges, and benefits for students, faculty, and communities attempting to integrate promising pedagogical practices with service-learning and community-based research.
María Luisa Parra-Velasco, Senior Preceptor in Romance Languages and Literatures, requires her advanced Spanish language learners in Spanish 59: Spanish and the Community to complete four hours a week of engaged scholarship with local organizations as part of their language learning experience. Through classroom discussions, travels from Cambridge to Chelsea (for example), meaningful interactions, and conversations in Spanish with members of the Latino community, they explore powerful concepts like “the borderlands” as related to global migration, changes in local demography, and in-between identities.