The Collester Family Community Engagement Fellowship Program at Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences is uniquely designed to equip students with the leadership skills needed for social change and to ignite a passion for lifelong service.
The Collester Fellows Program provides students with academic training and experiential learning opportunities that synergize to cumulatively build toward developing the capacity for community-based leadership.
听Throughout the five blocks of the program, students will have the opportunity to examine models of community development, social justice and activism, power structures and systems and ethical considerations of engagement. Additionally, students will develop the ability to demonstrate cultural humility, engage in social perspective taking, build consensus within groups and evaluate potential courses of action to address challenges that impact their communities.
Benefits of the Collester Fellows Program:
- Exclusive membership in a cohort and access to unique courses that prepare students for community leadership
- Funding to support their participation in the community
- Connection to professional development workshops and events that explore community engagement through a variety of lenses, including local, policy, global, research and technology
- Opportunities to build a network by interacting with leadership who have turned their passion for community engagement into meaningful careers
- Certificate of recognition upon completion of the fellowship
Sequence of Courses
The Collester Family Community Engagement Fellowship Program offers a series of four courses and an experiential learning activity. The sequence of courses potentially may be as follows:
- Fall: 66-148 鈥� Intro to Community Engagement (3 units)
- Spring: 66-216 鈥� Connecting with the Pittsburgh Community (6 units)
- Summer: Experiential Learning Activity connecting with the community (in consultation with the director of experiential learning)
- Fall: 66-300 鈥� Using Collective Leadership to Pursue Community Goals (6 units)
- Spring: 66-403 鈥� Community Engagement Fellowship Capstone (variable units)