Apply now for Engage Chicago! An Immersive Summer Field Study Program for Undergraduates
Engage Chicago (EC) offers students the opportunity to:
- Gain invaluable work experience at top organizations in Chicago
- Earn course credit while learning among a community of peers
- Experience daily life in the diverse, dynamic city of Chicago
- Serve alongside leaders and organizations that make a difference
- Learn first-hand about politics, history and methods of social change
EC gives students from across the country the opportunity to immerse themselves in the city of Chicago, while learning from Northwestern University faculty and community experts in diverse neighborhoods throughout the city. Students earn Northwestern University course credits and gain invaluable work and life experience; EC takes advantage of the unique history, resources, culture and expertise the city has to offer, providing powerful learning experiences for students interested in public service and social change.
Last summer EC students interned at organizations such as the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, the Illinois Maternal & Child Health Coalition, and the Chicago Public Schools Office of School Turnaround. They explored the rich culture and history of Chicago and the theories and ideas behind community development work in Field Studies in Civic Engagement, a course taught by Northwestern Professor John “Jody” Kretzmann.
Field experiences are a unique component of Engage Chicago, complementing the work done in class and at internships. Highlights from EC 2010 included a talk by Newsweek columnist Jonathan Alter, a panel discussion with current and formerly homeless individuals at the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, a tour of Eden Place, a project on sustainability and urban development in Chicago’s Fuller Park neighborhood, and a visit with famed civil rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson at the headquarters of his Chicago-based national advocacy organization, Rainbow/PUSH.
“This program stretched me and took me to places I never dreamed I’d set foot in and got me thinking about issues my own life experiences would say didn’t concern me. It threw me outside of my comfort zone.”
-EC 2010 participant
IMPORTANT DATES:
- NOW – Applications available
- April 1 – Final deadline
- June 17 – Program begins
- August 12 – Program ends
Open to all rising sophomores, juniors and seniors; apply online today!