Dr. Michelle Kelso, Human Services and Social Justice, Columbian College of Arts and Sciences
2021Community Engaged Teaching Award
Dr. Kelso has taught service-learning and community-engaged scholarship courses for 15 years. All of her courses in the Human Services and Social Justice program include a significant community engagement component. Some of her courses engage student in direct service with community members, working with organizations that serve newly arrived refugees, people experiencing homelessness, and mentoring/tutoring youth. In other courses, her students do projects that build capacity for thosesameorganizations, such as program evaluation (HSSJ 3100W), grant-writing (HSSJ 3110W), and organizing (HSSJ 1177). Dr. Kelso recognizes that her courses challenge students, and in order to be sure community organizations receive quality work in return for their time with students, she builds in plenty of time for multiple drafts and abundant feedback. One of her students remarked, “Over the past four years, I learned about DC specifically, how nonprofits function, the importance of listening to the community, effective ways to tackle systemic inequalities, and so much more.”