Civic Engagement and Responsibility
Overview
Illinois State’s core values are at the heart of the civic engagement and responsibility minor. Our program develops civically responsible individuals. We collaborate with community partners to create a more just and equitable world.
As a student in this program, you’ll participate in social change and develop an individual awareness of ethics and social responsibility. Our professional practice class gives you the opportunity to take what you learn in the program and make a positive impact in the community. Email Wendi Whitman or call (309) 438-7604 to learn more about the internship opportunity.
The Minor in Civic Engagement and Responsibility also offers a special concentration for teacher education majors. You should consider this concentration if you have an interest in urban education and you want to collaborate with urban communities for advocacy and social justice.
The concentration includes courses that have a strong focus on diversity, anti-racism, and community-engaged classrooms. Many of these courses offer hands-on activities and assignments in urban schools and communities. The courses let you dig deeper and explore systemic issues of race, class, and privilege as you observe, interact, and apply your entire curriculum into your teacher identity and practice.
The minor includes an internship class: IDS 398.02 Professional Practice: The Service Learning Experience in Civic Engagement. The professional-practice course is a culmination of the minor as the student engages in some aspect of service learning in the community. Contact Wendi Whitman to learn more about the professional practice opportunity.
Point of Pride
The Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning supports our core value of civic engagement through programs, resources, and administrative support for campus initiatives like the American Democracy Project and the Civic Engagement and Responsibility minor.
We are the first and longest standing formal academic minor in the state of Illinois focused on civic engagement. Our Minor is interdisciplinary and our graduates and current students have majors in five of the six colleges.
Why study Civic Engagement and Responsibility?
The field of Civic Engagement strives to create civically minded individuals who gain a sense of self-awareness as community members, participate in community service, develop an appreciation of diversity, comprehend the interdependence between communities, societies, and the rest of the world, grow an understanding of the democratic process, display critical thinking within the arena of democratic conversations and social issues, become effective at solving problems and promoting change, integrate personal reflections on civil service, social issues, and course content. A minor in Civic Engagement and Responsibility gives you skills to succeed in a rapidly changing global society.
How to Apply
Application Information
Minors can only be declared by current Illinois State students. Current students can use the Apply to Your Program tool on My.IllinoisState.edu.
Application Period
Applications for the Civic Engagement and Responsibility minor are always being accepted.