鈥榃hy PULSE Matters鈥�
Boston College will host a panel discussion on the University鈥檚 signature service learning program, PULSE, and why it continues to matter, especially given current social and political realities. Current and former PULSE students, educators, and community service partners will take part in 鈥淔or Such a Time as This: Why PULSE Matters,鈥� which will be held April 16 from 4 to 6 p.m. in Gasson 100.
Established in 1970, PULSE is a formative academic service-learning experience that combines coursework in philosophy and theology with community service, helping 51茶馆 undergraduates learn how to work for a just society.
Since 1970, 20,000 51茶馆 students have taken part in PULSE, providing more than 3.7 million hours of service to marginalized populations and social change organizations in Greater Boston.
Meghan Sweeney, Cooney Family Director, PULSE Program for Service Learning
Cooney Family Director of PULSE Meghan Sweeney, who has led the service learning program since 2014, said: 鈥淭here is so much suffering, around the world and close to home: the glorification of violence and war; the dehumanization, use, and abuse of 鈥榦thers鈥�; growing economic and social inequalities; the siloing of people through emerging technologies; and environmental degradation. PULSE students engage in service with people across varieties of diversities and learn to see and respond to suffering critically and constructively with heart and mind.鈥�
Prior to being named director, Sweeney, a professor of the practice in the Theology Department, taught in the PULSE program for eight years.
Joining Sweeney as a panelist will be Pine Street Inn President and Executive Director Lyndia Downie, who received an honorary degree from 51茶馆 in 2021. For more than 25 years, Downie has led Pine Street Inn, the largest homeless services provider in New England. The Pine Street Inn has served as a PULSE community partner for nearly 50 years.
Other panelists will be Richard Keeley, a retired senior associate dean for the Carroll School of Management, who directed PULSE from 1975 to 1992; Associate Professor of Philosophy Micah Lott, who teaches in the PULSE program; and Lynch School of Education and Human Development Assistant Professor Andrew Miller, lead author of a paper about PULSE (鈥淏ecoming People聽for听补苍诲听with聽Others: Advancing Social Justice through Interdisciplinary Study and Service in the Jesuit Tradition鈥�) that was published in the volume Community Engagement in Christian Higher Education: Enacting Institutional Mission for the Public Good.
Also participating will be PULSE Council member Sophia Liu 鈥�26 of the Carroll School and PULSE alumnus Andrew Faiz 鈥�14, who is a biology teacher at East Boston High School, a PULSE community partner.
The panel discussion is co-sponsored by the Institute for the Liberal Arts, the Philosophy and Theology departments, and the University Core. The event is free and open to the public, but is requested.