The central challenge of social impact education within higher education is the lack of a shared framework to unify language and practice across an institution. One framework gaining popularity among Community Engagement Professionals (CEPs) is the Pathways of Public Service and Civic Engagement. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to…

Social justice is increasingly being seen as relevant to the science curriculum. We examine the intersection of participatory science, social justice, and higher education in the United States to investigate how instructors can teach about social justice and enhance collaborations to work toward enacting social justice. Participatory science…

Events of recent years both in the United States and around the globe have highlighted the fragility of democracy. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has prompted educators to seek evidence-based civic engagement methods for helping students understand the invasion and its implications. This paper offers a set of recommendations on how to teach the…

Since classical times, character development has played a key role in the proper functioning of democracies. This article outlines a modern reimagining of a classical archetypal character construction as a novel method for character development. The author presents examples of its operation in higher educational settings and in professional…

Democracy is in trouble. For the last 10 years, the number of democratizing countries dropped by almost half to 16, hosting a mere 4% of the global population. Faced with these global trends, as well as democracy's challenges during the first two decades of the twenty-first century, how can communication studies contribute to the study of civic…

In this article, the authors argue that colleges and universities have an ethical obligation to respond to the problem of cheating in a way that honors higher education's duty to facilitate students' moral and civic development. After the authors compare and contrast the punitive versus developmental approach to cheating, they explore the promise…

To be effective citizens, students need a great deal of epistemological sophistication. This need has become increasingly visible in curricular, research, and pedagogical efforts in higher education. This reflection considers how "citizen epistemology" across the curriculum might enhance student learning about the politics and ethics of…

A quiet revolution is unfolding throughout higher education in the form of contemplative pedagogical practices. The mind's ability to adopt a metaposition relative to its own contents, thereby consciously integrating somatic, emotional, and mental experience, has profound implications for learning. According to its proponents, contemplative…

This article proposes enhancing student learning through civic engagement by considering the advantages of integrating service-learning with study away, research, and internships and pre-professional courses into first-order, second-order, and third-order hybrid high-impact pedagogies. Service-learning contributes numerous attributes to the other…

Democracy--with its complicated problems, multiplicity of positions, and often deeply held convictions--has always been messy. How do we prepare students to participate meaningfully in this type of world, where issues are complex and opinions vary widely? Knowledge about democratic ideals and development of civic dispositions is important, but for…

Amid a devastating pandemic and increasing polarization, how can US colleges and universities help students bridge divides, make their voices heard, and understand their responsibilities to others in a democratic society? This article is an interview of Nancy Thomas, director of the Institute for Democracy and Higher Education (IDHE) at Tufts…

Generation Z (Gen Z) represents something of a quintessence for the broken promises that now seem to make up the promise of higher education. But if despair indicates the dark side of generational malaise around things like civic engagement, community, and student learning, the dark humor that has emerged out of these generations points to modes…

Civic engagement has long been a pedagogical and societal goal for communication scholars (Arnett & Arneson, 1999; Bennett, Wells, & Freelon, 2011). Kidd and Parry-Giles (2013) point out that belief in the "inherent civic value of speech to meaningful citizenship" is the "pedagogical core of the discipline" (n.p.).…

Young people around the world are calling ever more urgently on policymakers to address today's global challenges of sustainability, structural inequality and social justice. So it is little surprise that learning in a global society, understanding sustainable development and being active global citizens are increasingly popular themes for…

Ample research has noted a positive sense of political efficacy associated with increased civic engagement. In turn, the role of service-learning in boosting students' civic engagement has been well documented. As civic engagement is a desirable goal for strengthening communities and empowering citizens, the role of service-learning in directly…