Curriculum Transformation

Principles of the Feinstein Institute for Public Service

Reprinted with permission from Liberal Education
The Feinstein Institute was established in 1993 when Providence College was named the recipient of a five million dollar grant from Rhode Island philanthropist Alan Shawn Feinstein to educate a new generation of caring community leaders. The college has since been working to develop a unique and innovative academic program in public and community service integrated into the liberal arts curriculum. As part of the process of laying the foundation for the curricular program, a team of Providence College faculty and students drafted the following statement of principles and goals that guide the operation.

Principles

The Feinstein Institute for Public Service is guided by the following principles:

* Understanding human diversity results from the exercise of compassionate public service when those who serve also seek to learn from those they serve. A better understanding of diversity is a necessary component of good citizenship.

* Participative citizenship recognizes personal responsibility toward the common good and promotes cooperation in the midst of a competitive culture. Public and community service increase social awareness and civic participation.

* Social justice requires that people pose critical questions concerning the ways in which social, political, and economic institutions affect individuals. Social justice also requires collaboration in a process of social change.

* Human solidarity, according to Pope John Paul II, is 'a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good, that is to say to the good of all and of each individual, because we are all really responsible for all.' Public and community service, then, is a means to achieve human solidarity.

Continuing Goals

The institute pursues its goals through a set of continuing activities, organized around the three purposes of academic institutions: teaching, service, and inquiry. The institute seeks to teach the value of service to others by:

* promoting service learning as a pedagogical tool in courses across the curriculum;

* stimulating an appreciation for, and understanding of, community;

*educating service leaders who can foster and manage social change;

*equipping students to become intelligent, productive, and responsible citizens of a democratic society; and

*creating a student voice in the community and teaching students to hear the voices of communities.

The institute seeks to serve the community of humankind by:

* inspiring a life-long commitment to service;

* increasing ties between Providence College and diverse communities;

*promoting citizenship and problem-solving capacities; and

*providing leadership to others in forming service partnerships with their communities.

The institute seeks to inquire into the nature of service to community by:

*increasing our understanding of the manifold nature of communities;

* stimulating interdisciplinary scholarship on public service and community; and

*bringing together scholars to study and reflect upon service and community.

Reprinted with permission from Liberal Education, Volume 81, Winter 1995.
Copyright held by the Association of American Colleges and Universities.