How Political Scientists Teach Civic Engagement

Here, political scientists share their strategies for teaching. Included posts and articles, from PoliticalScienceNow.com, the Journal of Political Science Education, and PS: Political Science, address ways to incorporate specific substantive issues into the class curriculum or how to encourage student civic engagement more generally through teaching. Links to posts will be updated as new posts are published. We are grateful to Cambridge University Press and Taylor & Francis for providing free access to the JPSE and PS articles featured in the campaign through the end of 2019.

“Audience, Purpose, and Civic Engagement: A Reassessment of Writing Instruction in Political Science”Ian G. Anson (University of Maryland, Baltimore County)
“Best Practices in Civic Education: Lessons from the Journal of Political Science Education”Elizabeth A. Bennion (University of Indiana, South Bend) and Xander E. Laughlin (Indiana University Bloomington)
“Can All (Intro to American) Politics be Local Politics?”Emily Farris (Texas Christian University)
“Civic Action Projects for Your 100% Online (COVID-19 Adapted) Courses”Elizabeth Bennion (Indiana University South Bend)
“Civic Engagement Through Service Learning in Pomona, California” Robert Nyenhuis and Brady Collins (California State Polytechnic University, Pomona) 
“Civic Reflection as Conversation Model: Building Skills for Discussing Values”Sarah Surak (Salisbury University)

“Does U.S. Marine Corps Recruit Training Constitute a Type of Civic Education?”

Eric B. Hodges (University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee)

“Fostering Youth Participation in the Ohio Primaries”

Lauren Elliott-Dorans (Ohio University)

“Getting out the Vote in the Valley: Connecting Politics and Participation to Youth”

Randy Villegas (University of California, Santa Cruz)

“Giving All College Students What They Need to Become Active Citizens: Tailoring Civic Learning to Students’ Lived Experiences” 

J. Cherie Strachan, Central Michigan University 
“I Will Register and Vote, If You Teach Me How: A Field Experiment Testing Voter Registration in College Classrooms”Elizabeth A. Bennion (University of Indiana, South Bend) and David W. Nickerson (Temple University)
“Nonpartisan Student Voter Education and Engagement: Putting Research into Action at TLC at APSA 2019”Elizabeth C. Matto (Rutgers University’s Eagleton Institute of Politics)
“Pedagogical Value of Polling-Place Observation by Students”Christopher B. Mann (Skidmore College), Gayle A. Alberda (Fairfield University), Nathaniel Birkhead (Kansas State University), and Yu Ouyang (Purdue University Northwest)
“A Pedagogy of Civic Engagement for the Undergraduate Political Science Classroom”Debra L. DeLaet (Drake University)
“Promoting Civic Literacy and Engagement During the COVID-19 Pandemic”  Elizabeth Bennion (Indiana University South Bend) and Judithanne Scourfield McLachlan (University of South Florida St. Petersburg)

“Student-Run Exit Polls 101”

Sarah E. Croco (University of Maryland), Elizabeth Suhay (American University), Rachel Blum (Miami University), and Lilliana Mason (University of Maryland)
“Teaching Active Citizenship: A Companion to the Traditional Political Science Curriculum”Michael Smith (Emporia State University) and The Honorable Bob Graham (US Senate, Retired)
“Teaching Community Organizing and the Practice of Democracy”Jyl Josephson (Rutgers University-Newark)

“Teaching Students about Congress and Civic Engagement”

B. Welling Hall (Earlham College)

“Want to Build Students’ Civic Engagement? Teach Them How to Use Social Media”​

Jennie Sweet-Cushman (Chatham University)

“Teaching the Power of Local Political Participation”

Melissa Michelson (Menlo College)

“Sharing Student Research on Voting Rights on Social Media”

Sara Chatfield (University of Denver)

“Engagement through Experience: Student-Led Voter Registration Efforts”

Chelsea Kaufman (Wingate University)

“‘Teachnology’ and Civic Engagement in the Year of COVID-19 Instruction”

Alison Rios Millett McCartney (Towson University)
“2020 Election in Alabama: What is at stake, what to expect?” Regina L. Wagner (University of Alabama)
“The 2020 South Carolina Democratic Primary: The Gestalt of Black Voters in SC” Athena M. King (Virginia State University)
“Boots on the Ground in New Hampshire” Nina Kasniunas (Goucher College)
“Caucuses, Primaries, Convention, Oh My – The Long and Winding Road to the Nomination” Mary McHugh (Merrimack College)
“Civic Engagement as Critical Pedagogy at Middle Tennessee State University”  Sekou Franklin (Middle Tennessee State University)
“Colorado: Party Raiding, Winnowing, and Timing” Seth Masket (University of Denver)
“The Curious Case of Guam: The Unincorporated Territory’s Role in the 2020 Primaries” Nolan G. T. Flores (University of Guam)
“Explainer: Kentucky’s 2020 Primary Election” Benjamin R. Knoll (Centre College)
“A (Farewell?) Love Note to New Hampshire” Nina Kasniunas (Goucher College)
“Florida: We Have a Problem” Maria Puerta-Riera (Ana G. Méndez University and Valencia College)
“Heartland Dispatch: With Sanders Out, Kansas’ Primary Attention Turns to House, Senate and State Races” Michael Smith (Emporia State University)
“How I Prepare my Students for the Texas Primaries & Conventions” Juan “Carlos” Huerta (Texas A&M University)
“The Illinois 2020 Primary: It’s All about the General Assembly” Christopher Z. Mooney (University of Illinois, Chicago)
“Iowa Caucus Training with a ‘Mock-cus'” Donna Hoffman, Christopher Larimer, and Justin Holmes (University of Northern Iowa)
“A Look At the 2020 Primary Elections in the US Virgin Islands” Malik Sekou (University of the Virgin Islands)
“Maryland Will Deliver…But for Whom?”  Vincent Stine (George Washington University
“More than the Presidency: Making Sense of the Other Choices on the Primary Ballot” Robert G. Boatright (Clark University)
“The Nevada Caucus: First in the West” Precious Hall (Truckee Meadows Community College)
“The North Dakota Firehouse Caucus” Dana Michael Harsell (University of North Dakota)
“Presidential Primaries and the Caucus/Convention System in Minnesota, 2020” Tony Hill (Franklin Pierce University)
“A Primer to the Super Primary in North Carolina” Jacob Smith (Duke University)
“Small Potatoes? Do Idaho Primaries Matter?  Jaclyn J. Kettler (Boise State University)
“Taking Students to The Iowa Caucus: An Experiential Approach to American Politics”  Phillip Ardoin (Appalachian State University)
“Unpacking The 2020 Iowa Caucus” Grayson Rice (Appalachian State University)
“Using COVID-19 and Connecticut’s Primary Elections to Teach Political Science Concepts” Gayle Alberda (Fairfield University)
“Utah’s 2020 Presidential Primary”  Matthew Burbank (University of Utah)
“Virginia: A Key State to Watch During Super Tuesday” Marty Cohen (James Madison University)
“Voting in the Time of Corona, Will Louisiana Head to the Polls?” Gabi Vitela (University of Louisiana at Lafayette)
“Washington State Voters Head to Primary School” T. M. Sell (Highline College)
“Wisconsin 2020: The Big Battle to be the Big Cheese” Eric Loepp (University of Wisconsin-Whitewater)
“Wyoming Democratic Party Experiments for 2020” James D. King (University of Wyoming)
“Your Guide to the Indiana Primaries” Christian Martinez (Indiana University, South Bend)
“Teaching Party Systems: A Culinary Demonstration”Andre P. Audette (Monmouth College)

“When the Party Comes to Town: Experiential Learning During a Presidential Nominating Convention”

Karen M. Kedrowski (Winthrop University) and Katarina Duich Moyon (Winthrop University)
“From Rules to Representation: Teaching about the Territories and their Delegates in the US Congress”Jonathan Lewallan (University of Texas at Austin)

“Teaching Trump: Why Comparative Politics Makes Students More Optimistic about US Democracy”

Hannah Baron (Brown University), Robert A. Blair (Brown University), and Shelby Grossman (University of Memphis)

“Working Together: An Empirical Analysis of a Multiclass Legislative-Executive Branch Simulation”

Nicole Kalaf-Hughes (Bowling Green State University) and Russell W. Mills (Bowling Green State University)

“For the Students: How to Analyze a Congressional District Election”

Josh Franco (Cuyamaca College)
“The Presidency and the 25th Amendment in Popular Culture”Lilly J. Goren (Carroll University)
“I Researched the Sheriff, and I Researched All the Other Local Races”Emily M. Farris (Texas Christian University) and Mirya R. Holman (Tulane University)

“Bet Out the Vote: Prediction Markets as a Tool to Promote Undergraduate Political Engagement”

Lukas Berg (United States Military Academy) and Major John Chambers (United States Military Academy)

“What You Need To Know About Election Polls”

Eric Loepp (University of Wisconsin-Whitewater) 
“Simulating Redistricting in the Classroom: A Binding Arbitration Decision Game Using Louisiana Census Data”Peter Miller (Brennan Center for Justice), Steven Kimbrough (University of Pennsylvania), and Johanna Schact (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)
“Felon Disenfranchisement and American Democracy”Alice Malmberg (University of California, Santa Cruz)
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