Bringing Theory to Practice Grant

The Office of Service-Learning has received a grant from the Bringing Theory to Practice Project, an independent project working in partnership with the Association of American Colleges and Universities and supported by the S. Engelhard Center and the Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation.

The purpose of the grant is to harness the Community Engagement Scholars program as a model of civic learning and democratic engagement. The funding will enable the seminar and service-learning components of the Community Engagement Scholars program to be expanded so that they promote the 21st Century Standards for Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement as defined by the American Association of Colleges and Universities in its recent roundtable discussions held at the U.S. Department of Education.

The 2012-2013 Community Engagement Scholars will be participating in an enhanced curriculum that fosters their understanding of universal democratic principles as ideals that promote the dignity and fundamental rights of the individual, social justice, economic and social development of the community, and strengthened cohesion of society. The seminar is offered through the McAnulty College of Liberal Arts and is taught by Dr. Lina Dostilio (director of Academic Community Engagement) and assisted by Ms. Kate Molchan (doctoral student in the Healthcare Ethics program). Upon completion, the program will yield important information about the acquisition of student learning with regard to civic learning, social responsibility, and personal growth and how these outcomes might be strengthened in other curricular offerings at Duquesne and other institutions of higher education.