During the 2016 election, GW participated in the All In Challenge, committing to student civic engagement and increasing student voter rates. At the first All In Challenge Awards Ceremony, held on October 19, 2017 at the Newseum, GW was awarded a bronze seal for a student voting rate between 50% and 59%.

Student participation in elections has increased in the past few years. A recent report,
“Democracy Counts: A Report on U.S. College and University Student Voting” from the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement, an initiative of Tufts University’s Institute for Democracy in Higher Education, shows that between the 2012 presidential election, and the
2016 presidential election, student voting went from 45.1% of eligible voters in 2012 to 48.3%
in 2016 – a 7% improvement.

“I am proud to honor The George Washington University with an All In Challenge bronze seal in recognition of their dedication, hard work, and achievement,” said Zaneeta E. Daver, director of the All In Campus Democracy Challenge. “The George Washington University is not only ensuring that a more representative population participates in our nation’s democracy, but is educating students to be civic-minded. They are an example to be emulated.”

The All In Campus Democracy Challenge is a national awards program. The Challenge encourages higher education institutions to help students form the habits of active and informed citizenship, and make democratic participation a core value on their campus. By joining the Challenge, campuses commit to:

• Convening a campus-wide committee that includes members from academic affairs,
student affairs, and the student body, as well as any other relevant stakeholders;
• Developing and implementing an action plan to improve democratic engagement;
• Participating in the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) in
order to measure student voting rates; and
• Sharing their campus’ action plan and NSLVE results in order to be eligible for a
recognition seal and/or awards.

More than 300 campuses, enrolling more than 4 million students, have joined the Challenge
since its launch in summer 2016.

Faculty and students may be interested in this event on November 18th from 1-2 pm.

From Me to We at GWU is sharing research into the investigation of the Flint, Michigan water crisis and highlight the role of grassroots and formal policy efforts in preventing similar crises in the future.

You can view the invitation to the event here

Update: Please note this event has been cancelled. This topic will be presented at another time.

The Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service hosts this opportunity for GW faculty to attend a Conversation on Community-Engaged Scholarship about the Public Dissemination of Students’ Community-Engaged Scholarship.

• Wednesday, Nov 8th, 9:30-10:45am
• Gelman Library, 1st floor, National Churchill Library and Center

A light breakfast is provided, please RSVP here, and share with colleagues! [RSVP Link]

Dr. Phyllis Ryder, author of Rhetorics for Community Action and leading scholar of service-learning in composition and rhetorics of democracy will open the discussion by describing how the design of her course assignments facilitates public dissemination of students’ engaged scholarship.

Dr. Christopher Klemek, associate professor in the department of history will describe the dissemination of his students’ work online, through the Digital DC project. Dr. Klemek received Trachtenberg Prize for Teaching Excellence in 2016.

Public dissemination of students' community-engaged scholarship is one of the six standards of Nashman Community-Engaged Scholarship Courses. Join us to learn about and share a variety of ways this can be accomplished.

The monthly Conversations on Community-Engaged Scholarship Series invites GW faculty to join their colleagues for discussions that cross disciplines and connect our work to the priorities and needs in our communities. This event is hosted in partnership with the National Churchill Library and Center, Gelman Library.

On October 12, 2017, faculty from across campus came together at the National Churchill Center to discuss community engaged scholarship. Dr. Greg Squires of the Sociology Department led the discussion and discussed ways in which faculty can engage with the community. Greg opened with a quote from Amitai Etzioni - "Why don't you choose to do something useful?" He shared his experience and resources with the group.

Faculty discussion centered around challenges of community engaged scholarship and steps that can be taken to make GW a better environment for this work.  Thanks to everyone who joined us in October. November's session is just around the corner on November 8th, at the Churchill Center in Gelman at 9:30 a.m. - we hope to see you there!

New 1 credit session B online elective course for students please share with students who may be interested.

 

The Alternative Breaks Program features 11 domestic and international community service and service-learning trips, held during winter and spring break, that provide students the opportunity to become active citizens and leaders, while building lasting connections with people from various communities through a mutually-beneficial experience. The program is a student led endeavor that strives to empower and challenge all participants to understand their relationship with the global community through direct service, education, and reflection, while encouraging personal growth, social awareness, and active citizenship.

Winter trips are from January 6-13

Spring trips are from March 10-17

Learning Partners are faculty and staff who participate as a team member of a GW Alternative Breaks trip as liaisons between the students and the University. While they are not responsible for the general planning of the trip, which is left to undergraduate student leaders, Learning Partners do serve in a more hands-on role through expertise in the issue area of the trip or geographic location as well as guiding students during their reflection and personal development.

For more information about the trips and program in general:  https://www.gwnashmancenter.org/about-altbreaks/

If you have any questions please email gwaltbreaks@gmail.com. 

Application Timeline

• Friday, September 22nd- Application Opens at 9:00 AM - APPLY HERE
• Friday, October 6th- Application Closes at 11:59PM
• October 11th-19th- Interviews with trip leaders
• Friday, October 20th- Learning Partners Announced!

2017/2018 Alternative Break Trips

• Winter Break: Atlanta, Georgia - Refugee Resettlement: 10 Participants (1 LP)
• Winter Break: El Paso, Texas - Immigration and Border Community Rights: 10 Participants (2 LP's)
• Winter Break: Los Angeles, California - Youth Engagement and Mass Incarceration: 10 Participants (1 LP)
• Winter Break: Las Marías, Puerto Rico - Sustainable Farming: 15 Participants (2 LP's)
• Winter Break: Los Santos, Costa Rica - Sustainable Development: 10 Participants (2 LP's)
• Spring Break: Otavalo, Ecuador - Community Development: 10 Participants (2 LP's)
• Spring Break: Washington, DC - Sexual Health and Domestic Violence: 12 Participants (1 LP)
• Spring Break: New Orleans, Louisiana - Urban Restoration: 45 Participants (2 LP's)
• Spring Break: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Urban Sustainability: 10 Participants (1 LP)
• Spring Break: Tahlequah, Oklahoma - Native American Cultural Issues and Education: 10 Participants (1 LP)

GW's Sociology Department, with support from the Nashman Center, is hosting an event celebrating the 50-year anniversary of this ground-breaking research, "Talley's Corner: A Study of Negro Streetcorner Men". This study, conducted here in Washington, DC, challenged many preconceived ideas about race and people living in poverty.

The event, "Talley's Corner Revisited: A Half-Century of Change in African American Washington and Beyond" will include presentations both here at GW and in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington, DC.

Tally's Corner Revisited

Thursday, October 19th, from 2 to 6 pm
Gelman Library, Room 702

Please RSVP Here:   https://go.gwu.edu/tallys

This event commemorates the 50th anniversary of the publication of Elliot Liebow's classic ethnography of African-American streetcorner men in DC, Tally’s Corner.  Half a century later, scholars and activists will use the occasion to reflect on the book’s long-term impact and on what has changed – or not - in terms of racial inequality in Washington and other American cities.

Sponsored By

• The Department of Sociology
• The Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service
• Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration

Speakers

• Elijah Anderson      Yale University
• Michelle Chatman  University of the District of Columbia
• Mitchell Duneier     Princeton University
• Derek Hyra               American University
• Dominic Moulden   ONE DC
• Maurice Jackson      Georgetown University
• Parisa Norouzi         Empower DC
• William Spriggs       AFL-CIO and Howard University

The Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service hosts this opportunity for GW faculty to connect in conversation on the subject of institutional recognition and advancement of community-engaged scholarship.

Dr. Greg Squires is a public sociologist, an author of many peer reviewed articles on his public sociology research, and has also written about the challenge of placing community-based research in refereed journals. Dr. Squires will describe the current state of recognition and reward for public scholarship in higher education. The conversation to follow will invite others to consider how community-engaged scholarship is evaluated and rewarded in their department and at GW broadly.

Please RSVP via this link: http://evite.me/ZXVZehaV8Z

Community-Engaged Scholarship describes collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities (local, regional/state, national, global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity. 

The purpose of community engagement is the partnership of college and university knowledge and resources with those of the public and private sectors to enrich scholarship, research, and creative activity; enhance curriculum, teaching and learning; prepare educated, engaged citizens; strengthen democratic values and civic responsibility; address critical societal issues; and contribute to the public good. 

– Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

The monthly Conversations on Community-Engaged Scholarship Series invites GW faculty to join their colleagues for discussions that cross disciplines and connect our work to the priorities and needs in our communities. This event is hosted in partnership with the National Churchill Library and Center, Gelman Library. A light breakfast is provided. 

Please forward to colleagues! 

Please spread the word. GW's fund to support disaster relief efforts is accessible here: go.gwu.edu/gwresponds

The Honey W. Nashman Center and the Office of Sustainability present:

Film Screening: City of Trees, with refreshments and a panel discussion, including with the filmmaker, to follow.
October 16th 6 pm
Marvin Center Amphitheater

Each semester the Academic Service-Learning Symposium offers faculty and students the opportunity to reflect on the variety of ways we have engaged with our community partners and consider how to deepen those partnerships in the coming years. This year about 175 students and faculty participated throughout the day. A few examples of Symposium session conversations included:

• The broad impacts of mass incarceration on many members of the DC community and the role of GW-DC Partnerships - a conversation sparked by rhetorical analysis by students in Phyllis Ryder’s UW1010 course.
• The unique rewards and challenges of community-based participatory research - following presentations by Sara Policastro and Charleene Smith, recipients of the Nashman Research Prize.
• The civic contributions of historians in preserving and telling the stories of DC’s citizens - including the presentation of the Community Heritage Trail signs created by Christopher Klemek’s HIST 2020W students.

It was a thoughtful day. We invite you to join us for next year’s Symposia: December 8, 2017 and May 1, 2018. Contact Wendy Wagner for info: wagnerw@gwu.edu.