Learn with people.
SRVCLRNG 220 is a 2-credit service-learning course open to every UMass undergraduate. Spend two to three hours a week with a community group, build real friendships, and learn to recognize and challenge ableism.
The course at a glance
SRVCLRNG 220 · The Boltwood Project · led by Academic Director Professor Joel Arce, with student co-coordinators and site supervisors. A designated UMass Civic Engagement course.
UMass credits. Repeatable in later semesters with strong performance.
hours a week with your group at its community site, with a student supervisor.
Sunday seminars, 11:00 AM to 2:30 PM in Furcolo’s Carney Auditorium: October 4, November 8 and December 6.
How you join
Enrollment is by program consent. Come to interview night, complete a short application and interview, and we will match you with a site.
This is how Fall 2026 ran. Dates for the next semester go up on the calendar and on Instagram as soon as they are set.
- Sep 10
Interview night
5:30 to 7:30 PM, Commonwealth Honors College Events Hall. Bring a laptop or phone to complete the application.
- Sep 17
Orientation night
5:30 to 7:30 PM, CHC Events Hall. Meet your site group and learn how Boltwood works.
- Sep 26
Site visits begin
Your group meets every week through December 12.
- 3 Sundays
Seminars
October 4, November 8 and December 6, 11:00 AM to 2:30 PM. Attendance is required.
What you will learn
Boltwood is grounded in the social model of disability: people are disabled less by their bodies or minds than by the barriers society builds around them. You learn alongside the people most affected, not about them.
At each Sunday seminar, speakers who live with a disability or work in disability advocacy share their experience. Readings and discussion prompts arrive beforehand, so you come ready to engage.
- Understand service-learning and where Boltwood fits in civically engaged education.
- Identify and critique the root causes of oppression and inequity, with a focus on ableism.
- Practice critical, justice-minded approaches to service-learning and community engagement.
- Work in a group built on feedback, reflection, empathy and curiosity.
- Follow disability rights advocacy at the local, state, national and international levels.
- Turn what you see at your site into advocacy for inclusion.
What the course asks
Show up, on time, and engage. Reflections can be written, or recorded as audio or video. Readings are free on Canvas.
| Part of your grade | Weight |
|---|---|
| Attendance at your site and the seminars | 30% |
| Quality of participation | 25% |
| Weekly site and seminar reflections | 30% |
| Final paper | 15% |
Weekly reflections
On weeks without a seminar, a 1–2 page reflection (or a 3-minute audio or video) on last week’s visit. Due dates are on Canvas.
Seminar reflections and the final paper
After seminars 1 and 2, a 2–3 page reflection (or 4 minutes recorded). The final paper, 4–5 pages or a 5–6 minute recording, reflects on seminar 3 and your whole semester.
Absences
More than four unexcused absences puts you at risk of failing. Make-ups are only offered for absences excused by your supervisor and the co-coordinators.
Phones, recordings and AI
No phones, laptops or social media during seminars and site visits. Recording class needs an approved Disability Services accommodation. Generative AI tools are not allowed for course work.
The $20 program fee
Every student is a member of the Boltwood RSO, which charges $20 a semester for site visits and seminar costs like guest speakers. It is collected after you are placed at a site.
Credits and overrides
You need room for 2 credits in your schedule. If you are at your credit limit, ask your Dean for a credit override.
Grow with Boltwood
Boltwood is run by students who started exactly where you are. Many go on to careers in medicine, psychology, public health, speech and hearing, and education.
Member
SRVCLRNG 220, 2 credits. Spend a semester with your site group. Repeat it in later semesters with strong performance.
Site supervisor
SRVCLRNG 393L, Boltwood Student Leadership. Members with exceptional service are selected each year. A 4-credit fall course on service-learning theory, community organizing, leadership and social justice, then a 3-credit practicum leading a group.
Co-coordinator
Two or three outstanding supervisors each year run day-to-day operations with Professor Arce, recruit speakers and plan the Sunday seminars.
Capstone
An optional 4-credit spring project with a community partner, focused on anti-ableism or social justice.
Three semesters of SRVCLRNG 220 fulfill one Service-Learning requirement, the Foundations in S-L requirement, and the Issues of Social Justice or Diverse Publics content area of the Certificate in Civic Engagement & Public Service. The leadership course counts too. To apply for the certificate through SRVCLRNG 220, contact Ellen Correa at CESL; through the leadership course, contact Mary Bombardier (mbombardier@umass.edu). Every enrolled student is also a member of the Boltwood Registered Student Organization.
Who to ask
Already in the course? Canvas and your UMass email have the latest readings, deadlines and schedule changes.
Professor Joel Arce
Academic Director and course instructor · Goodell 623F, by appointment
jarce@umass.eduGeorge Varghese George
Co-Coordinator
georgevarghe@umass.eduLaura Walsh and Shubhan Swamy
Co-Coordinators · reach them through Canvas or your supervisor
Your site supervisor
Your first stop for absences, extensions and anything that comes up at your site.
UMass CESL
623 Goodell Hall, 140 Hicks Way · 413-545-2015
umass.edu/cesl/boltwood-project