Sara Shostak (SOC/HSSP) was announced as the inaugural director of the Vic and Bobbi Samuels ’63 Center for Community Partnerships and Civic Transformation, according to a BrandeisNOW article from March 8. Shostak will take the helm of the center upon its opening which is projected to be in Fall 2022.
“The Vic and Bobbi Samuels ’63 Center for Community Partnerships and Civic Transformation is being founded at an extraordinary moment in history. Together, the COVID-19 pandemic and an urgent reckoning with America’s history of racial injustice call on us to develop new ways of addressing systems of inequality and their many consequences for individuals, families, and communities. At the same time, the climate crisis and challenges to democracy, peace, and justice around the world demand collective strategies,” wrote Shostak to The Brandeis Hoot in an email interview.
In this role, Shostak wrote that one of her top priorities is supporting students, which she plans to do in a number of ways. She wants to make funding available for students to undertake research projects on behalf of community-based organizations, like for example providing mentorship on projects. She wrote that she is meeting with students to get their perspective on the design of the Samuels Center’s programs in order to have a better understanding of student needs and hopes for what the center will provide.
The first of a series of listening sessions was held with students on March 16 in order to gauge student needs, more sessions will be happening over the next couple of months and Shostak reaches out to community members. Those with questions or concerns or who want to be a part of the listening sessions are encouraged to reach out to Shostak via email at sshostak@brandeis.edu, she wrote to The Hoot.
Shostak also shared her hopes for the Samuels Center with The Hoot. According to Shostak, she hopes the center will be “radically inclusive,” she wants it to be a space that welcomes all students and support them in their personal and professional paths with community engagement and civic service. She also wrote that she hopes it will offer needed resources to provide and “a community of practice to support community engagement by faculty and staff.” Another hope of Shostak’s is that the Samuels Center will allow for current bonds between the university and outside community partners to grow.
Shostak hopes that the center can provide a space where relationships between the university and community organizations in the Waltham and Greater Boston area can prosper. The Samuels Center also provides the opportunity, according to Shostak, to create new research opportunities and practices that look into the causes of inequalities in our communities.
“I appreciate that many students at Brandeis want to be part of changing the world, and the Samuels Center is here to support you in becoming ethical, effective, collaborative and responsible leaders of change,” wrote Shostak.
The Samuels Center will provide students the opportunity to respond to problems in our community via community service and collaborations which focus on civic transportation, wrote Shostak, which can help with the current problems being faced in the world. The university’s founding principles which are committed to “social justice, a strong culture of community service among students, surging interest in community-engaged research and teaching among faculty and staff, and create a ‘front door’ to the university for community partners,” will be brought together in the Samuels Center, according to Shostak.
“Together, we will develop new models for community engagement and civic transformation that will meet the challenges of this historic moment and help us create a more just, equitable, and sustainable future,” wrote Shostak.
Shostak was selected for the position by Carol Fierke, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, she told The Hoot. Shostak has, “been working on strengthening community engagement at Brandeis for years, including through the Framework for Our Future process, the Social Justice Curriculum Committee and the Community Engaged Scholars Committee,” she wrote to The Hoot.
Shostak has been recognized for her teaching being honored with the Michael L. Walzer ’56 Award for Teaching at Brandeis, according to the BrandeisNOW article. She has also been recognized for her scholarship through funding via grants from the Merck Family Fund, the Ruderman Family Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, according to the article.
At the university, Shostak has worked on the Social Justice Curriculum Committee from 2018 to 2019 and the Community Engaged Scholars Committee from 2019 to 2021, according to the article. Currently, she is involved in the Myra Kraft Transitional Year Program (MKTYP), Posse Scholars Program and the Board of Trustees as a member of the Committee on Student Life.
The Vic and Bobbi Samuels ’63 Center for Community Partnerships and Civic Transformation is intended to be an interdisciplinary resource combining Academic Affairs and Student Affairs as a part of the university’s Framework for the Future campaign. The Framework for the Future is a report composed by faculty, staff, trustees, friends of the university, parents and students that provides a framework for the “scaffolding for the university’s coming decades,” according to the final report.
The university announced its plans for the Vic and Bobbi Samuels ’63 Center for Community Partnerships and Civic Transformation on January 4 after receiving a $10 million donation from the Samuels Family Foundation, according to a previous Brandeis Hoot article. The Samuels Family Foundation is an organization that advances education, supports children in need, encourages the flourishment of Jewish life and promotes social justice, according to their webpage. The donation was made in honor of Victor “Vic” Samuels who passed away in 2020, according to The Hoot article.
