J.D. Power Center for Liberal Arts in the World

Michelle Sterk Barrett, Ph.D., Director
Isabelle Jenkins, Ph.D., Director, Donelan Office of Community-Based Learning
Daniel Bitran, Ph.D., Science Coordinator, Weiss Summer Research in the Natural Sciences
Anthony Cashman, Ph.D., Director, Weiss Summer Research in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Fine Arts
Christopher Murray, M.A., Director, Washington Semester Program, Semester Away Program

At Holy Cross, we expect that students learn from a variety of experiences that take place outside of the classroom. The J. D. Power Center for Liberal Arts in the World is the central hub that empowers students to identify, develop, and engage in a variety of experiential learning opportunities at the College. These include internships, student research, community-based learning, and project-based learning. Through these opportunities, the Center encourages students to integrate their liberal arts education with different forms of engagement in the world, and to reflect on how these experiences shape and advance their vocational aspirations.

J.D. Power Center for Liberal Arts in the World coordinates the following programs:

Academic Internship Program

The Academic Internship Program (AIP) offers students in every discipline the opportunity to obtain practical field experience as part of their academic plan of study. While the main intent of the program is to provide students with an experiential learning opportunity in their chosen fields, additionally, it provides an opportunity for career exploration. Academic Internships are comprised of two components: fieldwork at an internship site in Worcester or the greater Boston area and academic work in an internship seminar. If a seminar topic is not appropriate to the internship, tutorial work with an individual faculty sponsor may be arranged. Arrangements for an internship by tutorial, outside of the AIP, can only be made in exceptional circumstances. Each student is expected to spend eight hours per week on the job and another three or four hours on the academic component. One unit of academic credit is granted for the Academic Internship. Admission to the Program is open to third- and fourth-year students by application.   No more than two academic internship courses (Academic Internship, Washington Semester Internship) may be counted toward the 32 courses required for graduation.

Donelan Office of Community-Based Learning

The Donelan Office exists to support faculty, students, and community partners who utilize community-based learning. Community-based learning (CBL) is a teaching approach that connects classroom learning objectives with civic engagement. Civic engagement occurs through service that meets community-identified needs or through research and experience that holds promise of social or scientific value to the community. In this mutually beneficial process, students are able to gain a deeper understanding of course content by integrating theory with practice, while communities gain access to volunteers, resources, and the wide-ranging research and scholarly expertise housed in the College’s many disciplinary departments. Consistent with the Holy Cross tradition of preparing students for a lifetime of learning and moral citizenship, CBL students at Holy Cross are invited to reflect upon moral and ethical questions of social responsibility while considering how to live purposefully in a manner that enables one’s unique gifts to positively contribute to society. The Donelan Office of Community-Based Learning helps students make connections between their courses and community sites thanks to a generous endowment established by Joseph P. Donelan II ’72. Further information about the Donelan Office and current and upcoming CBL courses can be found on our website: http://holycross.edu/cbl.

Washington Semester Program

Through the Washington Semester Program, a third- or fourth-year student can spend a semester working, studying, and carrying out research in Washington, D.C., for a full semester’s academic credit.  No more than two academic internship courses (Academic Internship, Washington Semester Internship) may be counted toward the 32 courses required for graduation. The Program is designed to provide a student, regardless of major, an opportunity to:

1. bring together past and current academic study with practical experience;
2. come to a better understanding of the political process and the formulation of public policy;
3. develop critical and analytical skills; and
4. pursue independent research under the guidance of a faculty advisor.

Washington students have worked in congressional offices, the White House, federal agencies, museums, media outlets, and public interest organizations.

Students who wish to engage in academic course work not available at the College may submit proposals for a semester or academic year of study at another institution, usually in the United States. For example, Environmental Studies students participate in the Sea Semester Program, co-sponsored by Boston University and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. Students in Deaf Studies may attend Gallaudet for an immersion experience in Deaf Culture. Opportunities are also available to attend a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), such as Spelman College, Morehouse College, or Hampton University.

The Weiss Summer Research Program

Undergraduate research experiences provide students with the opportunity to create new scholarship and engage in hands-on academic work; during the summer, student researchers can focus exclusively on their research, and so are able to undertake significant projects with outcomes worth reporting in academic journals and conferences. The College offers three summer research programs that collectively serve students across the campus, in all majors. The Science Summer Research Program connects students with ongoing faculty projects in the natural sciences. The Economics Summer Research Program recruits a team of students to support Economics faculty research. The Summer Research Program in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Fine Arts accepts student- and faculty-designed proposals. All three have a competitive application project, require a eight-week research period, and host a College-wide Summer Research Symposium in the fall, at which students report the results of their research.

The Ignite Fund

The Ignite Fund empowers students to accomplish independent goals by providing funds and administrative support. Students propose projects oriented toward a concrete problem or challenge on our campus, in our community, or around the world, and aspire to provide an actionable response. Funds are also available to support student research and presentations at academic or professional conferences. 

Marshall Memorial Fund

Through a bequest of James J. Marshall and Ellen O’Connor Marshall, the College has established a fund to encourage the creative and intellectual involvement of students and faculty with the Worcester Community. Support is available for service projects or research projects on any aspect of the historical, economic, cultural, or religious life of the city of Worcester that will be of benefit to the community and of academic benefit to the student or faculty member. Grants are awarded each semester.

Research Associates

Research Associates are students hired by faculty to assist them at critical moments of their professional research projects. Students spend approximately five to ten hours a week making use of the distinctive research skills that they have developed in their own college careers to enrich publishable faculty research. Along the way, they earn valuable experience and learn deeply about subjects in their areas of interest. 

Experiential Learning Partial Credit

Through the Experiential Learning Partial Credit (ELPC), students who participate in an extensive internship or research experience may have this experience noted on their academic transcript. The ELPC is offered twice annually: once for summer experiences and once for academic year experiences.

To be eligible for the ELPC, three steps must be completed by a student: 1) Submit an online application registering an intent to earn the ELPC; 2) Participate in an internship or research experience for at least 200 hours (Note: Students cannot accumulate more than 10 hours a week when classes are in session. This will necessitate that students engage with an internship over two semesters in most situations.); 3) Submit an essay responding to questions that prompt reflection upon what was learned through the internship/research experience. Additionally, an evaluation from the student’s internship and/or research supervisor will be collected to confirm satisfactory completion of the experience.

Because this is only a partial credit, it cannot count towards one of the 32 courses required for graduation, nor will it fulfill any curricular requirements. It also cannot be combined with any other partial credit (i.e., a lab course) to count as one full course credit. The ELPC will not be graded nor count towards a student’s GPA.

Scholarship in Action

Scholarship in Action (SIA) is an initiative to foster community-inspired research at the College that leads to the production of knowledge that serves both the community and the wider world.  To do this work well, SIA promotes ethically grounded collaborations among Holy Cross faculty, students, and Worcester community stakeholders to advance community-based research goals in the city.  SIA grants help nurture the development of sustained multi-year research projects that support student research in the city whether through research positions during the academic year, Community-Based Learning courses, or through summer research opportunities from the Weiss research program.  Through valuable research experience in the city and with community partners, student researchers have an opportunity to ground their liberal arts education through practice, enabling them to see how the liberal arts and humanities can meet the complex challenges facing our world today.

Other Experiential Learning Opportunities

The Center also partners with other experiential learning programs on campus, and encourages students to think of them all as a series of opportunities that together allow students to put their liberal arts education to work. These include:

• The Ciocca Center for Business, Ethics, and Society
• The Summer Internship Program
• Student Programs for Urban Development (SPUD)
• The Chaplain’s Office
• The Office of Government and Community Relations