Welcome to the Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching and Service website!

Dedicated since its founding in 1789 to excellence in education that is rooted in service to the Church and to the democratic ideals of the new nation, Georgetown University begins the third millennium with a firmly grounded commitment to "justice and the common good," as its new mission statement proclaims. The Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching and Service, which opened its doors in January 2001, is a concrete and imaginative manifestation of that commitment. With origins in the work of the Task Force on Social Justice and work for the Jesuit Colleges and Universities Conference on Justice at Santa Clara, this new Center has a mission that is simple to state but far-reaching in its implications:

In order to advance justice and the common good, the Center promotes and integrates community-based research, teaching and service by collaborating with diverse partners and communities.

As our name suggests, there are three primary components of the CSJ: research, teaching and service. For more information about these components, please click on the links.

In addition, there are faculty each semester who are part of the 4th Credit Option for Social Action, a national model and one of the first such university programs when it was founded over 20 years ago, whereby students earn one extra credit by linking a minimum of 40 hours of community-based work during a semester to a course in which they are enrolled. Over 150 faculty on campus have offered the 4th Credit Option for Social Action in their courses, covering such subject areas as: art, music and theater; English; management; nursing; psychology; sociology; Spanish; theology; and women's studies. Students are also expected to develop supplemental course assignments with their faculty instructors and to participate in seminar groups with other 4th Credit Option for Social Action students during the semester.

Finally, there are three professionally-staffed programs, including the After School Kids Program, the DC Reads Program; the DC Schools Project ; the Summer of Service Program; as well as approximately 35 student vibrant service and social justice student groups that could use your support.

We invite you to explore this website to learn more about the CSJ. If you want more information, please feel free to visit or contact us.