Making the World Real: Using a Civic Engagement Course to Bring Home Our Global Connections

ABSTRACT

Civic engagement is an area ripe for increased pedagogical attention in the discipline of Political Science. However, almost all efforts are limited to courses on local, state, and national government. We teach about the often intricate connections between domestic and international politics, but opportunities for students to research and practice working within these connections in their local communities are lacking. This article presents a model for combining civic engagement and international relations through a service-learning technique in a class that maintains the traditional intellectual rigor and learning goals of the discipline. It argues that we can do more than just talk about the local impact of international relations in our classrooms by presenting students with structured opportunities to take their knowledge of international relations and use it for the benefit of their local community.

Keywords:

• civic engagement
• international relations
• service learning
• model United Nations

Notes

1. My thanks to an anonymous reviewer for helping me to highlight and clarify this point.

2. One of his points, the assessment of the partnership and its benefits for both, is an area of continuing innovation as our first high school group enters college. It is hoped that we can compile data on both the high school and college students involved in a long-term study when resources become available to us.

3. Funding for the conference is provided by BCPS, the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Political Science Department, and the International Studies program. BCPS first offered to pay for the bus transportation out of its regular operating expenses, which I have learned is not a small request. The Dean's office has paid for the honorarium for the guest speaker, printing of brochures and booklets, and setup costs for the conference, such as multimedia and sound systems, by giving me a grant. The Political Science department and International Studies Program paid for office supplies, such as conference folders, nametags, and country placards, as well as personnel out of their regular budgets. Private donations were given for food and remaining office supplies. Further information on how the funding was obtained and detailing of the costs involved can be obtained from the author upon request. Those interested in starting a similar program should seek a stable source of funds at the home department, dean, or university level.

4. In order to prevent the monopolization of the discussion by a few members of the class, I occasionally called on specific students to address an aspect of what we were discussing. I did not expect every student to be in the thick of every point; rather I expected them to be active contributors to some aspect of the discussion. As I write on my syllabus, it is not who speaks the most that gets the most points; instead I focus on the quality of the participation. In addition, they were told on the first day of class that participation in discussion was 25% of their grade. The class was also composed of students from a full range of political viewpoints, thus preventing the problem of lack of diversity.

5. In our discussions, the students did see the parallels between these points and the reasons that many Americans are apathetic in terms of their political participation.

6. These junior and senior-level students had taken the introductory international relations or comparative government course and with the exception of one student, all were majors and/or minors in political science or international studies. The next group will contain some sophomores, but again, they have had introductory training.

7. All but two of the students who led these workshops had taken an upper-level class with me in international negotiation. The other two were advanced seniors who had other experiences and the needed skills to conduct such a workshop. The agenda for all meetings was discussed amongst the workshop leaders and approved by me. Other students were involved in logistics during this time but that led to less involvement on their part. In the future, this arrangement will change to enhance the experiences of all of the students. The workshops will have leaders and assistants, where the less advanced students will participate almost as apprentices of the leaders.

8. I attribute this more advanced learning (compared to a normal upper level class) to at least three factors. First, I was allowed to keep the class enrollment at about 20 students, thus giving me more time to help with each research project. Second, students reported feeling “ownership” of these projects because of the time and effort that they invested. Third, the fact that they were presenting their findings in front of others, especially those outside of the university environment, was a strong motivational factor, as previously explained.