Category: Stories

To start each Justice in Housing class meeting, two students shared a reflection paper about their service related to people experiencing housing insecurity. Some students wrestled with how to implement just policies at Harvard Square’s student-run homeless shelters. Others examined the “Not In My Backyard” attitudes in their hometowns regarding affordable housing and homeless services….Continue Reading Natalie Swartz ’20

I had never known how gratifying it could be to see the tangible impact of public service work until I began volunteering with PBHA Chinatown Citizenship. As I became more involved and began directing the organization, I quickly realized that any future career I might want to pursue would be related to public service. However,…Continue Reading Sally Chen ’19

Music 176r: Music and Disability was an opportunity for me to bridge the realms of scholarship and service, and to use that bridge as a platform for contemplating my own work with MIHNUET, a student organization dedicated to building positive relationships between Harvard undergraduates and elderly residents at local nursing homes through music performances. In…Continue Reading Alan Yang ’18

Harvard is an institution wherein students are encouraged to engage critically and liberally with myriad academic disciplines. While there are certainly benefits to a hyper-academic approach to learning, one pitfall is in the lack of hands-on engagement with the material about which students are learning. The engaged scholarship courses challenge students to integrate theory with…Continue Reading Emelia Vigil ’18

Our education is directly linked to us wanting to make a positive impact in this world. In SOC-STD 68EC: Education and Community in America we often discussed John Dewey’s perspectives on education. How he believed that to learn, we must do. But how he also believed that to learn, we must reflect on our doing….Continue Reading Yasmin Issari ’16