By: Madison Akers
UMD’s School of Public Policy and College of Education, in addition to other schools and colleges across the campus, are collaborating to explore new ways of integrating civics education, engagement and innovation within students’ curriculum and community.
“Universities have clearly understood their role in promoting a stronger economy by enabling their students to enter the workforce,” said Dr. Jennifer King Rice, the Dean of the College of Education. “But universities also have a responsibility of producing good global citizens who understand democratic processes and social interaction in order to actively contribute to a healthy society.”
At the College of Education’s inaugural Dean’s Lecture in April of 2018, President Wallace Loh said that he thinks this university could do more to foster a civically engaging student community under the current political climate.
The plans for the initiative are still underway, although, three agendas represent the framework, expanding beyond a simple civics or history course. The three agendas include education, research and innovation, which all entail student involvement.
According to Rice, the education agenda intends to equip students with the knowledge to be engaged citizens and the skills to have productive conversations on contentious issues. This could include a faculty fellows’ program. The faculty would incorporate civics teachings into their general education courses as well as academic stimulations of discussions on current issues.
The second agenda is focused on research in an effort to study, measure and improve the civic health throughout the state of Maryland. Students and faculty will be involved in developing a civic health index, so that the university can track how civically engaged and healthy the jurisdictions across the state are.
Rice said that because UMD is a land grant institution, the university feels that it has a special role in contributing to the civic health of the state and society.
The third agenda, named the practice and innovation agenda, will incorporate student-run teams who compete to develop the best solution for promoting a healthy civic space.
Kate Burgess, a junior public policy major, said, “It’s important to have a basic understanding of civics and politics so that when we talk about these heavy topics and make decisions, we are informed and understand the processes that enable us to do so.”
This initiative would expand on the existing programs on campus that promote civics, community service and fair discussion in an effort to reach every student.
“The idea is to leverage a lot of what UMD is already doing to uncover civics and pull all of its efforts together to do much more and reach many more students,” Rice said.