This month, our partners both on and off-campus have highlighted ways to engage with local communities aimed at celebrating, empowering and connecting the voices of Black community members all year round.

Each year, the Swearer Center's Community Advisory Board (CAB) invites individuals and groups in Rhode Island to submit nominations (including self-nominations) for three awards recognizing organizational work. The CAB Awards aim to highlight and support the work of agencies in the public and social sectors that are moving the needle in key areas.

Swearer Center Laidlaw Scholar, Marisol Jimenez '25, has connected her interest in community engagement, an integral part of her high school experience, with her academic pursuits here at Brown.

This month’s spotlight focuses on public sociology and community engagement, with excerpts from Dr. Prudence Carter’s ASA presidential speech and reflections from two former Swearer Center graduate proctors.

Jay Philbrick ’24.5, is a Bonner Community Fellow, Laidlaw Scholar and Swearer Center Student Advisory Committee member. An Applied Mathematics-Economics and Computer Science concentrator, he is interested in using economic research and software development for social change.

The Swearer Center is pleased to announce the inaugural recipients of the Royce Graduate Student Research Awards.

The Swearer Center congratulates the graduates of our first cohort from the Engaged Scholarship Certificate (ESC) program.

Riley Stevenson ’26, has connected her interest in Environmental Studies and International and Public Affairs on campus with community action and activism in Providence through the Bonner Community Fellowship.

Luke Hurton '24, a current Royce Fellow, came to Brown intending to study Psychology and soon declared his concentration in Anthropology as well.

Courses that engage students in collaborative, community-engaged research projects provide meaningful learning experiences for students, value to nonprofit or government partners, and rewarding opportunities for instructors to connect their teaching, research, and broader interests/impact.

Tania D. Mitchell, a leading researcher in critical and engaged pedagogies in higher education, argues that “core tenets of intersectionality can be employed to inform and create a community engagement practice that addresses the interconnected structures of inequality in order to affect meaningful change.” (Mitchell 2017, 35)

Bisola Folarin '26 is a member of the 2026 cohort of the Bonner Community Fellowship (BCF).

When Nijpawi Gordon '25 was in high school, she volunteered at a children’s hospital in Thailand. However, it was not until Gordon came to Brown that she realized she wanted to pursue her interest in pediatrics.

Rishika Kartik ’26, a current Royce Fellow with the Swearer Center, has combined her interest in accessibility and art through her Fellowship project.

Sociology concentrator Riley Schornak '24 discusses her experience pursuing an Engaged Scholarship Certificate (ESC) on the intersections between health and the environment from a social sciences perspective.

Urban Studies concentrator Ayan Rahman ‘24 shares his experience studying social and environmental issues induced by climate change

Swearer hosts Engagement Preparation Days to streamline clearance processes for students and partner organizations

This summer, many of our Brown Votes students brought their work beyond Brown’s campus. Learn about just some of this impactful engagement as we spotlight three students below.

Dorcas International is at the forefront of the housing crisis’ impacts on refugees. The support offered by the resettlement agency goes a long way to make the state a permanent, more affordable home for refugees.

“Housing, paying the rent, it’s one of the main problems for refugees,” says Noorulaq Sadeq. Sadeq is a refugee and caseworker from Afghanistan who came to Rhode Island after the US military withdrew from his home country in 2021.