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Hours: Monday–Friday, 9 AM–5 PM
About the Spencer Center
Founded in 2007, the Spencer Center for Civic and Global Engagement fosters creative engagement between MBU students and their local, domestic and international communities.
Through civic and global partnerships, MBU students develop the self-awareness, knowledge, and skills needed to become proactive community leaders.
Civic Engagement Opportunities
MBU is dedicated to supporting the local Staunton and Shenandoah Valley community that we call home. By creating programs for local civic engagement, the Spencer Center trains MBU students for lives of difference-making in Staunton and beyond.
Faculty Fellows Program
Four MBU faculty serve as Spencer Center Fellows, creating civic partnerships and on-campus events to connect MBU students to their broader communities.
Events have included voter registration tables, gubernatorial race information sessions, and more!
Community Coursework
Earn credit outside the classroom while making a difference! MBU’s Civic Engagement (CE) courses allow students to learn hands-on in the local community.
CE courses include community service, civic entrepreneurship training, local externships, ethnographic research, and more!
Interfaith America Programming
Interfaith America is a non-profit dedicated to building bridges across religious divides to promote tolerance in civic discourse.
Through a partnership with MBU Chaplain Katie Low, Interfaith America will sponsor bridge-building seminars that instruct students how to engage plural communities.
Civic Engagement Events
Global Engagement Opportunities
The Spencer Center promotes global study and travel to grow MBU students’ communication skills and cross-cultural competency. These skills will prove invaluable in every community and career field our students might join.
Study Abroad
MBU has a wealth of global partnerships and scholarships that allow students to earn credit while exploring different cultures around the world.
MBU also offers great financial and merit-based scholarships for multi-week and semester-long study abroad.
May Term
May Term is a mini-term during the summer where students take unique, accelerated courses abroad with MBU professors.
Past courses have included studying European teaching styles in the Mediterranean, observing tropical wildlife in South Asia, and more!
International Exchange
International students have studied at MBU for decades. The Spencer Center hosts numerous events to welcome exchange students and offer them a home at MBU.
MBU currently has exchange partnerships with schools in Japan, South Korea, Northern Ireland, Taiwan, and India.
Global Engagement Events
Our Team
Directors
Martha Saunders
Associate Professor, Studio Art; Chair, Hunt Gallery; Interim Director, Spencer Centermsaunder@marybaldwin.edu
Faculty Fellows
Lisa Landram
Field Director, Department of Social Work; Assistant Professor, Social Worklnlandram@marybaldwin.edu
