This fall, the Gephardt Institute will offer a new democracy course to students. The course—Civic Action Lab: Strategies for Engagement in U.S. Elections—is the latest addition to the institute’s Applied Civic Courses and is listed in American Culture Studies.
“Particularly in this major election year, it is vital for students to understand their many outlets for engaging with the election, build their knowledge and skills, and identify their paths to involvement for 2024 and beyond,” added Stephanie Kurtzman, Executive Director of the Gephardt Institute. “Democracy depends on this active involvement.”
The 1.5-credit pass/fail course is slated to meet in Stix House on Wednesdays from 4-5:20 p.m., and will be taught by Dr. Alannah Glickman, Gephardt’s Associate Director of Civic Engagement.
“Though we always offer expansive ways to learn about electoral processes and opportunities for students to get involved with election-related civic engagement,” said Glickman, “We thought that adding an academic course on the topic would further expand our voter engagement work on campus, offer deeper learning with a consistent class community, and give students a chance to earn credits while building essential civic skills.”
The course boasts weekly topics ranging from election mechanics to grassroots mobilization. Using a blend of history, theory, and practice, it aims to equip students with the knowledge, skills, and tools necessary to passionately engage in nonpartisan democratic processes. Students will also develop their nonpartisan advocacy skills, so they can encourage their peers to do the same.
The course helps students hone these skills through active participation and weekly writing assignments. Students will complete a two-hour shift with WashU Votes, participate in an election-related conversation with a peer, and assist with a phone or text bank.
“I hope this course helps students to develop confidence in voting and supporting others in voting; engage with course topics with nuance, complexity, and empathy; and find a community of peers with which they have practice having difficult conversations about the upcoming election and the broader challenges and opportunities of US democracy in this civic moment,” said Glickman, regarding her goal of the course.
The course ultimately contributes to Gephardt’s goal of preparing students to graduate with the knowledge, skills, and commitment to actively engage in democracy through political participation, problem solving, and civic dialogue. It will provide students with a toolset to act on their commitment to civic engagement throughout their lives.
Civic Action Lab: Strategies for Engagement in U.S. Elections is an example of the Gephardt Institute’s Applied Civic Courses program, part of the institute’s Engage Democracy pillar. As part of this initiative, the Gephardt Institute partners with academic departments to offer applied civic engagement courses that integrate academic and experiential learning to equip students for effective civic leadership.
“Universities have a responsibility to prepare students to understand and enact the rights and responsibilities of living communally in a democratic society,” said Glickman. “Voting and elections are one important component of civic life, which is why we’ve prioritized developing this course, but students can also build many other civic skills across their academic and extracurricular experiences on campus.”
For example, Engage Democracy 2024 is a Gephardt-led event series that offers students a range of opportunities to build civic skills on campus.
This election-related event series connects students, faculty, and staff with compelling election-related events, increases voter education, and contributes to building a culture of civic and community engagement throughout WashU.
All events in the series—including Civic Action Lab: Strategies for Engagement in U.S. Elections–will be nonpartisan and feature multiple perspectives, academic analyses, and/or discussions of the electoral processes and/or democracy and how they relate to other social issues.
“We are pleased to offer this new Applied Civics Course as an opportunity for students to dive deeper into praxis and to become champions among their peers,” said Kurtzman. “The class will complement and extend our robust offerings through Engage Democracy 2024, WashU Votes, Civic Cafe, and other initiatives students can learn about on our website.