Academic Civic Engagement

In AmCon, we’re committed to educating our students to become thoughtful citizens – regardless of what country they call home. And we believe that citizenship is learned, in large, part, through practice and reflection. This is why every AmCon sequence includes at least one – and often several – experiences in Academic Civic Engagement. We combine academic study, of the theory and history of citizenship in America, with hands-on activities aimed at engaging directly in the various communities in which we live.

Every two years the entire AmCon cohort of students gets involved in a local, state-level or presidential election. Students can volunteer for a political campaign of their choice, serve as a trained election judge for the city of Northfield, register new voters, or help at one of several voter-information meetings sponsored by our partner organization, the Northfield League of Women Voters.

AmConners have undertaken a host of other Civic Engagement projects in recent years. They’ve investigated civic issues on campus and in their home communities as citizen journalists, producing their own radio broadcasts and posting reports on their class weblog. They’ve interviewed Northfield civic leaders and helped produce a series of “Civic Stories,” photo essays that explore why and how these leaders became active in their communities.

Listen to podcasts AmCon students made from oral histories gathered for the 50th anniversary of Project Friendship, Youth Mentoring. Listen to samples of radio projects from recent AmCon courses Explore sample posts from a recent AmCon Citizenblog project