Civic Engagement at Penn

Civic Engagement Opportunities at Penn

Civic and community engagement is a pillar of Penn’s identity. The University’s commitment to education for democratic citizenship harkens back to Benjamin Franklin’s founding vision for the institution—to develop in students “an Inclination join’d with an Ability to serve Mankind, one’s Country, Friends and Family; which Ability… should indeed be the great Aim and End of all Learning.”  Contribute to your community and enrich your Penn experience through the following opportunities!

• Join the newsletter!

• The start-of-school NSO civic and community engagement newsletter Links to an external site.is your go-to guide for all civic engagement experiences

• Take a Course: 

• • • Academically Based Community Service (ABCS) Courses feature hands-on, real-world problem solving with campus and/or community partners
    • SNF Paideia Designated Courses are discussion-based seminars which integrate students’ personal, professional, and civic development through “dialogue across difference”
    • Sign up for ABCS and SNF Paideia courses on Path@Penn by searching for “ABCS” or “SNF Paideia” or filtering through the “University Attribute” menu

• Engage in employment and/or volunteer opportunities: 

• • • The Netter Center for Community Partnerships offers a myriad of workstudy, non-workstudy, and volunteer opportunities to engage with the local West Philadelphia community.  These range from STEM to arts and culture to health and wellness to sustainability and environment to voter engagement, and more
    • Civic House supports volunteer opportunities with Philadelphia-based nonprofits and facilitates bi-weekly reflection workshops
    • Penn Leads the Vote is Penn’s non-partisan voter engagement program supporting student, staff and faculty voter engagement
• Apply to a fellowship and/or internship program: 

• • • The Penn Program for Public Service is an 11-week paid internship involving an ABCS seminar, work with youth summer programs, and locally focused, problem-solving oriented research 
    • Fox Service and Research Fellowships are focused on hands-on public policy research or partnerships with nonprofit and public interest groups
    • The Civic Scholars Program, a four-year fellowship, includes a unique proseminar, community engagement, service-based courses, and capstone project
    • The SNF Paideia Fellowship is a 3-year program designed to cultivate dialogue and global citizenship through SNF Paideia courses, research and internship funding opportunities, fellows proseminars, and a senior capstone project