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Who We Are
We are located at:
Center for Integrative Technologies
169 Weybosset Str., 2d flr, Rooms 207, 209 & 210
Providence, Rhode Island 02903
401-413-0275
Peter Hocking, director
phocking@g.risd.edu
Mailing Address:
2 College Street
Providence, RI 02903
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RISD
established the Office of Public Engagement to deepen its commitment to public
service, community-engaged practices in the arts and design, and to support collaborative partnerships in the public interest.
The Office serves as a catalyst for community participation, leadership development, and as a site for debate and inquiry
into matters of social justice and social change.
Our program believes that rigorous engagement
with public concerns, activism, and civic responsibility are central components of a RISD education, and that RISD holds a
public trust to cultivate critically minded citizens. Through a variety of program initiatives, the Office provides opportunities
for students and faculty to consider the diverse ways that artists and designers can be engaged with the critical issues of
our generation.
The Office of Public Engagement builds
upon many years of work undertaken across the curriculum and the academic
community. Its goal is not to centralize public work, but to assist and support
faculty, students and alumni in their efforts to connect art, design and
scholarship with the public good. The Office of Public Engagement was established
in the Fall of 2006 with the intention of deepening RISD's institutional commitment to public service education, publicly
engaged practices in the arts, and community partnerships. In its pilot year, the office collected data about existing partnerships
and curricular initiatives, established new relationships across the campus and in the local community, established the Fusion Arts Exchange Program and mounted a community-based exhibition of public practices in the arts.
In the 2008-2009 academic year, the Office grew to include support from the AmeriCorps*VISTA program and launched a summer
Scholarships for Service Recovery Program with four part-time, student AmeriCorps members. In addition, the Office piloted
an innovative student leadership program for incoming first-year students, secured new funding for programming related to
arts and healing and continued to develop its initiatives in the area of sustainability and the environment.
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Reflecting
the values of RISD, the Office of Public Engagement believes that public participation is a central concern of a college education.
Recognition of one's social responsibility and one's ability to affect public issues is intrinsic to understanding one's
role in a democratic society and key to addressing the most pressing questions that face us -- locally nationally and internationally.
People undertake public work for a variety of reasons and in a variety of ways. A sense of political, spiritual, or social
calling may inspire some to volunteer their time to causes of personal importance. Similar motivations may inspire others
to connect their professional goals and aspirations to the solution of public concerns. Artists and designers, as people who
construct meaning and physical culture, may find that the language of their form can create new dialog or inspire new ways
of living in the world. The Office of Public Engagement acknowledges, supports and values the diverse motivations and means
through which people make commitments to the public good.
Public engagement is undertaken in a public context. An understanding of the historical, social and political complexity
of the context in which one is working is critical to effectively achieving one's objectives. Regardless of one's motivation
to work for the public good, the Office of Public Engagement encourages and supports members of the RISD community in their
efforts think deeply about the human, ethical and moral dimensions of their actions and contributions.
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charge of the office of public engagement
The Office of Public Engagement has been charged by the Provost to work across RISD’s curriculum
and community to:
* Build relationships between RISD and local, national and international communities.
* Assist faculty,
students, and alumni in their efforts to connect their teaching, learning, art & design practice, scholarship and personal
values with the public good.
* Foster a campus culture that understands, values and is committed to RISD’s public
purpose and institutional obligations to the public good.
* Support existing and establish new institutional partnerships.
* Assist academic departments in the creation of curriculum
* Encourage and nurture leadership skills in students and recent alumni.
* Support local initiatives
that advance public practices in the arts.
* Develop new career opportunities for artists and designers in the public sphere.
* Develop new RESOURCES for public engagement at the College.
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