A Pedagogy of Civic Engagement for the Undergraduate Political Science Classroom

ABSTRACT

This article provides an overview of a classroom project, titled the Priorities Project, which is designed to promote responsible and informed civic engagement on the part of students in upper level political science courses at Drake University. It provides an overview of the Priorities Project, a brief summary highlighting the process and results of this project, and preliminary assessment data. The article discusses this classroom assignment in the context of more general pedagogical debates regarding the relative advantages of service-learning in comparison to traditional models of teaching and learning focused on knowledge acquisition. The Priorities Project demonstrates a pedagogy of civic engagement grounded in a participatory conception of citizenship that represents a “third way”—between a traditional, lecture-based classroom focused on the development of personally responsible citizens and a service-learning model emphasizing a justice-oriented conception of citizenship—of balancing the priorities of knowledge acquisition and civic responsibility in the undergraduate classroom.

KEYWORDS:

• Civic engagement
• engaged citizenship
• service-learning

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Debra L. DeLaet

Debra L. DeLaet is Professor of Political Science at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where she teaches courses on human rights, global health, the United Nations, and gender & world politics. Her major research interests are in the area of human rights, global health, and gender issues in world politics. She has published three books: U.S. Immigration Policy in an Age of Rights (Praeger 2000), The Global Struggle for Human Rights (Wadsworth, 2006), and (coauthored with David E. DeLaet) Global Health in the 21st Century: The Globalization of Disease and Wellness (Paradigm Publishers, 2012). In addition, she has published numerous articles and book chapters in her areas of interest. She currently serves as the Herb & Karen Baum Chair of Ethics and the Professions.