We will expand research and teaching around the complex social issues facing urban communities, drawing upon Clark’s existing strengths and longstanding connections with the Worcester community.

As an urban-based research university with a liberal arts core, Clark is well positioned to deepen understanding and find solutions to enduring social and urban issues such as poverty, health disparities, and crime, to name only a few.

“Clark’s motto is ‘challenge convention, change our world.’ You can’t change the world unless you’re engaged with it.”

Eric DeMeulenaere
Professor of Education

We seek to become a destination institution for social-justice-oriented and community-engaged research and teaching around a range of social issues that take full advantage of:

• Clark’s existing strengths in critical social issues, including the studies of race, gender, sexuality, class, and immigrant/national social identities — and how these all intersect.
• Our urban geographic context in the mid-sized city of Worcester.
• Amplified opportunities for technologically enhanced, innovative, dynamic, transformational, and mutually beneficial experiential teaching and learning with community partners.