The CCBL’s civic engagement approach is based on community organizing practices and aims to enrich students' learning and commitment to social responsibility.
The CCBL brings together students, faculty, and community partners as co-thinkers and collaborators in addressing social justice issues. Since its creation in 2001, the CCBL has developed resources and provided leadership to institutionalize community based learning at Occidental College.
The goal of community based learning is to enhance student learning and faculty engagement by connecting academic study and civic education through reciprocal, mutually beneficial relationships with the greater community. CCBL also collaborates with other offices on campus, as well as state, national, and international networks.
Examples of Our Work
Celebrating and Reflecting: 25 Years of Community Based Learning and Research at Occidental College
Read about the work of the CCBL and three Oxy faculty members as highlighted by Imagining America, a national organization that brings together scholars, artists, designers, humanists, and organizers to imagine, study, and enact a more just and liberatory ‘America’ and world.
Weaving Community into Curriculum
CCBL directors, Celestina and Kelsey, reflect on the evolution of community based learning and research at the College and the faculty, partners, and students who make this work possible.