The Swearer Center is a collaborative community of scholars, students, practitioners and local partners dedicated to strengthening communities and addressing shared challenges. We engage all participants as co-learners, co-creators and co-actors in the pursuit of knowledge and action. Through the creative capacities of our students, staff, faculty and community partners, we explore, build and implement collaborative and strategic projects, programs and initiatives. Our work yields transformative learning and positive, sustainable change through collective action. Learn more at the Swear Center website.

With 11 signature programs, some of the Swearer Center’s programs include:

• The Engaged Scholarship Certificate (ESC), sponsored by the Sociology Department and the Swearer Center, allows students to investigate public, civic, and/or social justice issues they are passionate about by integrating academic study with community-based learning, research, and action. Students pursuing the ESC engage in intensive interdisciplinary inquiry into the issue they define as the focus of their certificate experience, coupled with direct engagement with communities, organizations and practitioners outside the university.
• The Laidlaw Scholars Leadership and Research Program is an innovative scholarship that aims to develop a new generation of skilled researchers who embrace data-based decision-making and believe it is a moral imperative to lead with integrity. It invests in talented and motivated undergraduate students, giving them the knowledge, skills and experience to become active global citizens and future leaders.
• The Social Innovation Fellowship provides undergraduate students with meaningful experiences in community engagement and social innovation. Focusing on local partnerships and social impact through the lens of innovation, this two-year developmental program offers students the opportunity to explore modes of social innovation and the tools needed to start successful ventures or drive transformation within existing organizations. Additionally, students’ work enhances nonprofit community organizations' ability to use student talent effectively, helping build organizational capacity and explore ideas within the local social innovation ecosystem.
• The iProv Summer Fellowship provides undergraduate students with a stipend (and a Summer Earnings Waiver for qualifying students) to engage in 8-10-week internships with nonprofit organizations based in Rhode Island.

Swearer Center for Public Service
Box 1974
2 Stimson Avenue
Providence, RI 02912
Phone (401) 863-2338
swearer_center@brown.edu