On March 6th, 2020, GW will be hosting a one-day institute on "Civic Prompts in the Major" facilitated by the Association of American Colleges and Universities.
"Looking to the department as a unit of change, AAC&U’s Civic Prompts in the Major initiative focuses on ways to scaffold student engagement across the major in order to ensure students have multiple opportunities to work with others across differences and perspectives; address pressing local, national, or global issues; and prepare to enter the workforce with a heightened sense of public responsibility. "
Thanks to the generosity of The Endeavor Foundation, AAC&U is organizing two regional one-day institutes in 2020.
Goals for the Institute
- Provide dedicated space for departmental teams through hands-on work to expand students’ opportunities to deepen their civic knowledge, skills, and values in order to inform their sense of agency and responsibility to the larger world, both locally and globally.
- Offer an abundant set of materials to assist departments seeking to remap civic designs in the major and assess them along the way.
- Make available consultants who have deep knowledge of civic learning, democratic engagements, equity, diversity, and disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives.
- Expand regional and national networks of peers as departmental teams commit over time to creating majors that foster equity, social responsibility, and public-mindedness.
- Reinforce for faculty members their larger purposes as educators, scholars, and citizens to create inclusive, compassionate, just democratic societies.
Apply for an Institute
We invite departmental teams of three or more to apply. The application deadlines is December 16, 2019, for the East Coast (Washington, DC). Teams will be asked to describe what’s working well with their current design and how the department plans to enrich their design through participation in the institute. For examples of rich departmental models in the major, see Civic Learning in the Major by Design and case studies."
For further information, please visit https://www.aacu.org/civic-prompts or contact Caryn McTighe Musil (musil@aacu.org) or Carol-lynn Swol (swol@aacu.org).
- The event will take place March 6, 2020, at The George Washington University in Cooperation with the Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service Washington, DC.
- For questions, please email Dr. Wagner, wagnerw@email.gwu.edu
