Citizenship Is a Skill

SESP's newly revamped Civic Engagement Certificate program teaches students how to build personal relationships to revive civic health and promote democratic change.

Civic engagement is more than voting or volunteering. At SESP, students learn that it also requires developing social skills that can help build personal relationships.

"Civic engagement, political polarization, and inequality go up and down together," says Professor Matt Easterday, a learning scientist who recently led a yearslong effort to revamp the program. "Teaching students how to walk up to and talk to strangers, ask for ballot signatures, and host or attend events like potlucks plays a large role in reviving civic health and promoting democratic change."

Also known as relational organizing, the practice of mobilizing friends and family to act relies on building social networks. Organizing a gathering, Easterday says, "gives people a chance to talk about issues that are important to all of us, like civics." But while early exposure to civics education is essential to a functioning society, it is often taught too late or not at all. "Part of the reason people take elections so hard is because they don't feel like they have any power over the process. Knowing how to navigate the system doesn't just happen. People have to be taught how to be competent citizens."

First-year students in the certificate program learn how to conduct one-on-one interviews with people about the issues they care about and invite them to get involved. They also run a student organization that leads community-building efforts and participatory budgeting campaigns.

At events such as Civic Saturdays, people come together to share a meal and discuss a public issue, and at Civic StorySlams, participants tell five-minute personal accounts about their own community involvement.

In the second year, students take leadership roles on the executive board of Open Democracy Northwestern, an undergraduate club. They develop strategy, train members, and manage day-to-day operations while receiving weekly coaching from instructors.

"We want students to understand they are part of the community and responsible for it," Easterday says, "and that with the right democratic structures, we can govern ourselves."

By Julie Deardorff