The Good News and the Bad News...

Abstract

Whittier College, a small, liberal arts college in Southern California, prides itself on its tradition of “praxis” or the practical application of information beyond the classroom. As a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), Whittier College is known for the diversity of its student body; almost 30 percent of the student body is Hispanic, and many are first generation college students. The City of Whittier is similarly heavily Hispanic. Quakers founded both the City and College, and both are proud of that heritage which includes commitment to service. But the dual nature of the College and the community presents challenges in developing partnerships through community engagement programs. Whittier College has been recognized by the Carnegie Endowment for Teaching as an “engaged campus,” and was named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction in 2011 in recognition of our work in the community. The College has also been selected as one of 30 institutions to participate in a study spearheaded by the University of Minnesota to assess the impact of community engagement on student learning and retention. This is all the good news. This paper will address the successes, specifically, the number of departments, faculty and classes, who use service learning and community engagement as part of routine teaching and learning and that has infused what is done across the campus. But I will also address some of the challenges, specifically and most relevant here, why and how the political science departments has been largely resistant to any form of community engagement beyond traditional internships. I am guilty of this as well; as someone who teaches International Relations and US Foreign Policy, I have found only limited opportunities to use the community as an extension of my classroom. And yet, I am convinced that there are effective ways of engaging the community in a broad range of political science classes.