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Since its founding in 1826, Furman has quipped doers, thinkers and creatives with tools to understand the past, know the present and work towards the development of a better future. Inspired by this rich tradition, how might we fuel a movement of innovation, creative research and entrepreneurship that links the liberal arts and humanities with the sciences to create sustainable solutions for the grand challenges of our times?
=A History of Engaged Learning=
In 1937, Furman University President Bennette Geer partnered with John D. Rockefeller’s General Educational Board to bring a new form of lifelong learning to Greenville the Southeast through the Greenville County Council for Community Development (GCCCD). Inspired by the work of a Columbia University doctoral student, Geer led the university to develop an experimental design for community-centered improvement program that married town and gown in a whole new way. The vision for this initiative was steered by a coalition of faculty and students from Furman’s Sociology, Political Science, and Education Departments and a 24-person “County Council,” that included governmental officials, presidents of service organizations and educational leaders. During this period of Furman's history, teachers used innovative teaching methods that crossed institutional, racial and socioeconomic boundaries to put theory into practice. A course taught on farm mechanics built flues for houses in low-income communities. Agriculture classes visited Clemson University’s model farm and learned to build “hog homes". Other community-based projects included surveys of mill village hygienic facilities and conditions at rural black schools, support for community-wide vaccinations, improved health services, food preservation and lifelong learning (Bainbridge, 2010).
While halted during World War II, it was re-started in 1946 under Greenville City Schools and the Adult Education Division of the State Department of Education. Today, Furman still stands strong as a center for creative problem solving, engaged research and lifelong learning through the efforts of the Herring Center for Continuing Education, the Riley Institute, the Shi Center for Sustainability and a host of other faculty and student-led initiatives.