NIU Students help pack food for less fortunate people at Feed My Starving Children in Aurora, IL.
What does community engagement look like? For NIU Philosophy Professor Mylan Engel, the community is the classroom.
His students learn philosophy by doing. They plant, weed, mulch and tend NIU’s Communiversity Gardens. They harvest and clean produce donated to the Huskie Food Pantry. They pack food for Feed My Starving Children. And they volunteer their time at an animal sanctuary.
During all these activities and more, Engel is working right alongside them.
He wants his students to leave class knowing they can make a positive difference in the world.
Learn from Professor Engel on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, at a brownbag lunch presentation.
Register for the free brownbag lunch talk.
He’ll discuss how to design and implement a pedagogically effective community-engaged service-learning course. Professor Engel will share some of his experiences teaching a community-engaged service-learning course on the philosophy of food. He’ll conclude with some tips and advice for those interested in developing and teaching a service-learning course of their own.
“Moral problems, like global and local food insecurity, aren’t just abstract problems; they’re practical problems with practical solutions. It’s important not just to present students with the problems, but also to empower them with real-world actions they can take to help alleviate these problems,” he said. “I want my students to be actively engaged in doing philosophy, not just reading about it.”
Because of his efforts to inspire Huskies and others to engage in the world around them and connect their research and interests with broader community impacts, Professor Engel earned the 2023 NIU Presidential Engagement and Partnership Professorship.
Check out this NIU Today story to learn more about his unique approach to applied philosophy, which has inspired his students and colleagues for many years.
