I received an email today from my friend David Knapp ’49 who tells me he is participating in Wesleyan’s Week of Service by reading to a group of first grade students in New Haven tomorrow. This reminded me of all the great things students, faculty, staff and alumni are doing in support of their communities.
Of course, the Wesleyan engagement isn’t confined to one week. The Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship, to take just one example, has seed grants that are offered on a competitive basis. Applications are due this week and you can find out more here. Information on Davis Projects for Peace Grants (all students are eligible; applications due 1/25) can be found at that same link.
And here’s a link to photographs of Wes folks joyfully participating in community service activities.
Congratulations to those who successfully completed the intensive January classes. The semester is now underway, and I know many students are eager to be back in the classroom after the long break. Some folks are still checking out course possibilities, and I thought I’d mention the listing of classes that develop Digital and Computational Knowledge across a variety of subject areas. We also recently added a class, Constructions and Re-Constructions of Buddhism (RELI 483/CEAS245). Mary-Jane Rubenstein reports that it “was wildly successful last time it was taught, and would be a great course for students looking either to gain a fast-paced and carefully theorized introduction to Buddhist traditions, or to dive more deeply into them.”
UPDATE:
Colleagues have pointed out that our recent designation by the Carnegie Foundation as an “engaged campus” is very much related to the service activities mentioned above. Just check out these recent and forthcoming community engagement efforts by Wesleyan faculty, staff and students:
- The United Way campaign, which raised $111,000 for the community.
- The Center for Community Partnership’s upcoming High School Humanities program, which brings 80 local students to campus to hear faculty lectures.
- Green Street’s Discovery AfterSchool program for local children, and Intel Math Institute, which provides intensive professional development for public school teachers from Meriden and Middletown.
- And the Office of Community Service’s support of over 600 students each semester doing volunteer work locally.
I took the above from Wesleyan news article on engagement.
To stay informed about all civic engagement opportunities at Wesleyan, email scapron@wesleyan.edu to sign up for the weekly ENGAGE newsletter.