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Academic Engagement
Students in Prof. Jake Nagasawa’s course “Not Your Model Minority: Japanese Americans from Incarceration to Redress and Beyond” visited Fort Snelling in March of 2024 to explore the “Many Voices, Many Stories” exhibit focusing on Japanese Americans who were recruited during WWII to join the Military Intelligence Service Language School at Fort Snelling, often while their families were incarcerated in concentration camps throughout the US.
As part of his GEOG 277 course “Qualitative Research Methods in Human Geography” during the fall of 2024, students visited the East Side Freedom Library and worked with members of the East Phillips, Minneapolis: neighborhood to build a vibrant community hub and indoor urban farm.
Students munch on freshly pulled carrots during a field visit to Common Harvest Farm in Osceola, WI with Bill Moseley’s Geography 232 class.
Students in Maria Fedorova’s Revolutionary Russia and the Soviet Union and Valeriia Witzig’s Advanced Russian courses went to the Museum of Russian Art. The Community Engagement Center helped plan the trip with support from the Project Pericles grant.

Community-Based (CBL) and Community-Engaged learning (CEL)

CBL and CEL integrate community partnerships with instruction and critical reflection that focus on building and sustaining relationships that center community knowledge(s) and agency in order to creatively solve problems, engage community-identified needs and initiate transformative change. Macalester is a longtime leader in linking academic learning to community involvement. High quality CBL andCEL brings forth multiple layers of learning, teaching, and problem solving. Student work such as tutoring, research, analysis, or problemsolving holds reciprocal benefits for the students and their community partner. Aligning learning objectives with an existing community need is a critical step in these real world, engaging learning experiences. Each semester, the Community Engagement Center strives to provide necessary resources and support for faculty who would like to embed community engagement into their curriculum. During the 2025-26 academic year, 51 professors in 27 Macalester departments offered 70 courses with community engagement components.

Understanding the Difference

ExperientialCommunity-Based (CBL)Community-Engaged (CEL)
DefinitionLearning experience that involves a trip to a community site or a visit/presentation from a community member who shares their knowledge. Students are asked to reflect and make meaning of this in relation to course learning goals.Students take on an active role that is identified by a community partner (could be 1-time or ongoing). Students reflect and make meaning of this in relation to course learning goals. In ongoing CBL throughout the term, the community engagement can be considered one of the “texts” of the course.A course and community partner(s) collaborate on a project to achieve community-identified goals, build community capacity, or engage a broader public. Goals and outcomes are co-created, and community knowledges are validated and legitimized through the process. Students regularly reflect and make meaning of the engagement in relation to course learning goals. 
ExampleStudents in an Art History course visit a relevant exhibit at an art museum.Students in an Art History course receive training from an art museum and then lead groups of middle school students in guided visits.Students in an Art History course partner with an art museum to create curriculum that the museum will use for guided visits by an underserved population.
Student RolePassive role. Students may interact with cultivated content (i.e. exhibit) or ask questions of a speaker, but they have limited interactions with the public and are not involved in creating anything for the public. The experiential learning opportunity is primarily for their learning as a student.Active role. Students engage in work identified by the community partner that involves interactions with the public. However, they are not building capacity or creating something new—they are filling a community-identified need identified by the partner.Creative role and/or builds capacity for a community partner or a public audience. While CEL often involves interactions with the public, the primary focus is on a product or outcome created via a process of deep engagement with community.

Interested faculty can complete the below form, and Derek Johnson ([email protected]), Associate Director, will be in touch to assist you. Derek works with faculty to offer guidance, brainstorm, and establish or tap into partnerships with local community organizations.

Request Course Support
Project Pericles Funding

Project Pericles invites faculty at Periclean institutions to apply for grant opportunities for Spring 2027 and Fall 2027 courses. Applications are due internally by October 5, 2026. Funded by the Mellon Foundation and the Eugene M. Lang Foundation, these grants provide up to $4,750 to support faculty in developing or enhancing community-engaged learning courses and partnerships. Please utilize both of the links below to complete your application.

Grant Information Application

Current Community Partners

Scholarly Resources

Faculty Resources