“Embedding Civic Engagement in the Curriculum”

Faculty – especially those with expertise in the humanities and social sciences – are frequently called upon to embed civic engagement initiatives into student learning experiences. While it is important to teach students the substantive knowledge, political skills, and intrinsic identity that accompany public-spirited citizenship, the expectation that faculty in relevant disciplines will do so is often an “unfunded mandate.” This workshop provides a brief overview of best practices for civic and political engagement pedagogy before moving on to concrete examples of how to implement these initiatives – and perhaps more importantly, how to do so on a shoe-string budget.  Examples include tracking and promoting engaged learning in current our courses and co-curricular experiences, leveraging existing resources to build unique campus initiatives, and reinforcing student learning via ritual and ceremony.

Cherie Strachan received her doctorate in political science from the State University of New York at Albany in 2000.  She is currently Assistant Dean with special projects in student and civic engagement for the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences; Director of the School of Public Service and Global Citizenship; and Professor of Political Science at Central Michigan University.   She is the author of High-Tech Grassroots: The Professionalization of Local Elections, as well as over 30 juried and invited articles and book chapters. Her recent publications focus on the effects of partisan polarization on elections, the role of civility in a democratic society, and the effect of college-level civic education interventions intended to enhance students’ civic skills and identities.  Her applied pedagogy research, which focuses on facilitating student-led deliberative discussions sessions and on enhancing the political socialization that occurs within campus student organizations, has resulted in on-going work with foundations such as the Kettering Foundation, The National Institute for Civil Discourse, and the American Association of State College and Universities’ American Democracy Project. To address her concern over low levels of political engagement among specific demographic groups – in particular young people and women — Strachan is currently in the process of co-authoring two textbooks. These include The Civic and Political Behavior of the American Electorate: Engaging Students as Citizens (with Routledge), and Why Don’t Women Rule the World (with SAGE/CQ).