Want to engage with the community, but unsure where to begin?
Swearer Center’s Workshops and Storytelling Tours offer a place to start, equipping students, staff and faculty with the knowledge, skills and reflective tools needed to engage thoughtfully and collaboratively with communities in Providence and beyond.
Rather than treating community engagement as a one-time act of service, Swearer Center Workshops encourage participants to think about engagement as a practice rooted in relationships, humility and shared responsibility. Through conversations with community partners, hands-on learning and guided reflection, participants explore how universities and communities can work together in ways that are ethical, reciprocal and sustainable.
During the workshop “How to Prepare for Community Engagement,” community partner and educator Sarath S. Suong invited participants to think deeply about what meaningful engagement requires. Drawing from his experience as a community organizer, he emphasized the importance of showing up consistently, building trust over time and recognizing the knowledge already present within communities.
“Build the relationship first,” Suong encouraged participants. “The outcomes will follow.”
As the conversation unfolded, students began translating the ideas into their own words. For some, the biggest realization was that engagement doesn’t always start with a large initiative.
“Community organizing is really easier to get into than people think. Sometimes all it takes is sending an email or just showing up to a meeting,” said one attendee.
Others reflected on the value of starting small. “No idea is too small to be great.” And for many, the session prompted a shift in perspective, from seeking opportunities to thinking about what they could offer. “I want to focus on what I can give rather than what opportunities will give me.”
These reflections highlight how the session encouraged participants to move from big ideas toward actionable, relationship-centered engagement with their communities.
Throughout the semester, Swearer offers a range of workshops that explore both the principles and practice of community engagement. Foundational sessions such as “Orientation to Community Engagement” and “How to Prepare for Community Engagement” introduce participants to key concepts like asset-based community development, reciprocity and ethical partnership.
Other sessions focus on building practical skills. In “Designing Community-Engaged Research,” participants explored how research can be conducted with communities rather than about them, while “Navigating Positionality and Global Community Engagement” encouraged participants to reflect on identity, power and responsibility when working across cultural contexts.
The workshops also invite participants to step beyond campus through Community Storytelling Tours, which bring learning into neighborhoods across Providence. Guided by community leaders, these tours explore the history, diversity and arts of neighborhoods such as Smith Hill, Olneyville and Central Providence.
Participants walked along the Woonasquatucket River to learn about urban ecology and environmental restoration, explored Olneyville’s rich history of grassroots organizing and community resilience and examined how housing, infrastructure and public policy shape health outcomes across Providence communities.
By engaging directly with local leaders and organizations, participants gain a deeper understanding of how community knowledge, organizing and lived experience shape the places we live.
As part of Brown’s broader commitment to community engagement, the workshops support students in becoming informed, thoughtful participants in campus, local and global communities. By combining foundational learning with lived experience, the workshops prepare students not just to participate in civic life, but to shape it.
Interested in joining a future Swearer Center workshop or Storytelling Tour? Learn more about upcoming Swearer Center Workshops here.