School or Unit

The Clark-Fox Policy Institute works to advance social and economic justice. The goal is to connect policy solutions to public awareness, practicum training, and policy decision-making. The institute provides students with the opportunity to participate through a number of different avenues: the Graduate Policy Scholars, internship and practicum, and working through the master of Social Policy.

“The Divided City” works to bring humanities scholars into interdisciplinary dialogue with architects, urban designers, landscape architects, legal scholars, etc. This initiative includes a number of different projects such as the Sumner Studio Lab, a lab that runs through the academic year to bring together Sumner High students, WashU students, and Ville residents.

Niños Cambios Puertas is a volunteer program that provides tutoring and mentoring to Latino children in St. Louis. Niños tutors work with elementary school students with homework and reading and math exercises. Cambios tutors work with middle and high school students. While Puertas tutors function as a college preparation program helping students study for the ACT, find scholarships, and create resumes.

This program from the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement focuses on using the arts as a means for social change. Scholars in the program are immersed in arts-based community engagement in the St. Louis area. Participants are encouraged to foster dialogue, mentorship, and action between themselves and the artistic endeavors in the St. Louis area. Previous fellows have worked at the Contemporary Art Museum, the Griot Museum for Black History, and the Shakespeare Festival in St. Louis.

The Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity (CRE^2) provides an opportunity for three high school students in the St. Louis area to win $500 for their essay on why the study of race and ethnicity is important and for the study of race and ethnicity can benefit students.

The environmental studies impact internship offers WashU students the opportunity to work with St. Louis organizations to positively improve and impact the quality of life through an environmental justice lens.

In early 2018, the Living Earth Collaborative: Center for Biodiversity was launched. WashU partners with the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Saint Louis Zoo to advance the center’s mission. The mission includes advancing the knowledge of biodiversity and ensuring the future of the diverse species of earth. Students within the center can participate in research courses and internships that further accelerate the biodiversity work and the relation with these St. Louis areas.

The Creative Community Support programming helps bring together the literary arts and creative practice communities across WashU and throughout St. Louis. This support programming is meant to help foster relationships between faculty from different departments and school, support creative programs on campus and offer an inclusive environment in the literary arts at WashU. Projects include the St. Louis Literary Arts program, offers an up-to-date calendar of literary happenings in St. Louis, and co-sponsorship of events that may happen in the St. Louis area.

The Graduate Center, in the Office of the Provost, administers the year-long Pivot 314 Program for mid-career PhD students to enhance their academic journeys through interdisciplinary connections and innovation. Participants apply their academic and research skills in experiential learning opportunities outside and/or alongside of the academy while making valuable connections in the St. Louis community. Through partnerships with the Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation & Entrepreneurship, the Center for Humanities, and the Center for Environment, students will build/expand their network and find an applied academic experience for the summer that will further their research skill development while also making an impact on the St. Louis community.

The Sustainability Exchange Course at WashU provides students and faculty with the opportunity to make an impact on sustainability projects in the St. Louis area. Project teams, which are made of a St. Louis client, a faculty advisor, and a group of students, all work toward a common goal. Since its creation in 2015, there have been 76 projects with over 350 students.