Community-engaged methods differ from approaches that emphasize one-way applications of academic expertise to community problems. Community engagement is a method, a strategic approach to teaching, scholarship (research, creative work) and service to address public problems through collaborative community partnerships, where community partners are involved in courses that:
Are reciprocal, mutually beneficial
Share risk, benefit, responsibility
Can be local, national, and/or global
With diverse entities (e.g., non-profit, government, private sector)
Community-Engaged (CE) Teaching Funds are designed to support instructors to be innovative in developing and promoting their community-engaged teaching. CCESL has combined multiple funding opportunities into a single, universal application. These funds support:
Community-engaged class projects
Development of community-engaged courses
Institutional capacity building (e.g., bringing together instructors who teach similar courses to develop collaborative ideas for community-engaged activities)
Community-Engaged Student Assistants
Professional development (e.g., scholarship of teaching and learning for community-engaged teaching)
Visit our Public Impact Blog to view more stories of community engagement.
The DU Signature Faculty and Student Program recognizes faculty with records of excellence in mentoring undergraduate signature work in order to support their capacity to mentor collaborative, community-engaged signature work that addresses DU Grand Challenges issue areas. DU’s Office of Public Good Strategy and Research will make two awards of up to $26,750 in AY 2023-24.
I wanted to give students a resource for enacting radical democracy from within admittedly less than democratic institutions. The result was a sustained engagement with voter registration and education in combination with theoretical readings and discussions about the limits and possibilities of democracy...After participating in voter registration and education, nearly everyone in the class said that they will commit to being more actively engaged in democracy, including at minimum paying much more attention to elections and political news.
Community-Engaged Teaching Fund Recipient
Past Funded Work
Learn about some of the research and scholarship work funded by Community-Engaged (CE) grants, previously known as Community-Engaged Learning Mini Grants.
Note: CCESL programs, including this one, undergo an antiracist, anti-oppression review at least annually. In 2020, the review process led to revision of the program description and application materials; changes in the composition of review committee to include 1-2 community members; the addition of training for grant reviewers as well as information sessions for potential applicants.
