Community-Engaged Learning & Research

Community–engaged learning (CEL) builds on partnerships between institutions of higher education and surrounding communities to identify and work with public issues that have both academic and public life dimensions.  Part of Kenyon's Office for Community Partnerships, CEL provides students with opportunities for reflection on real-world, hands-on experiences.

At Kenyon, community-based learning focuses on three objectives:

To nurture a learning experience for students that promotes critical engagement with social realities, an integrative sense of purpose and capacity for connectedness and empathy.

"One-on-one interactions with our community groups made it clear that our course work isn't limited to the classroom; it is also the lived experience of other people."
— Student in ANTH 343: Contemporary Issues in Native North America

To be a resource for faculty to strengthen their knowledge of and engagement with the incorporation of CEL pedagogies into the Kenyon curriculum.

"This was a tremendously valuable experience for my students. It was such a benefit to their learning to be able to see the things we talked about in class coming to life on the playground!"
— Dana Krieg, associate professor of psychology, regarding her course, PSYC 323: Child Development

To create bridges with community partners and foster a reciprocal exchange of knowledge and expertise between the Knox County community and Kenyon College.

"Value was easy to see. The students in Professor Farnell's class were able to spend significant time analyzing our data and provide results, with real numbers attached, on how to reduce errors and three different ways our company could tackle the problem."
— Jennifer Campos, Sproxil Inc., who partnered with students in MATH 391: Machine Learning