You can encourage civic and democratic engagement in your courses and programs, no matter how much or how little time you have. Every contribution counts.
Explore these ways that faculty and staff can take action to promote civic & democratic engagement, good for election seasons and beyond!
I don't have any class time
Factor upcoming elections into your plans
- Consider key election dates such as election day (November 5) when scheduling exams or other required in-class activities
- Be mindful of the impacts of election rhetoric and election outcomes on students (and on you!)
- Attend a Promoting Democracy Teaching Series workshop to help you prepare to teach during elections
- Share this page with GSIs or others that have student-facing roles. They may have time to do what you don't have time to do!
Share voting information in Canvas, online, and in your syllabus
- Make a Canvas announcement to encourage voting. Choose a sample announcements from Ginsberg Center's pre-designed voting announcements for classrooms, based on UMICH Votes' system of messaging.
- Share govote.umich.edu link in your syllabus - it covers voter registration assistance and FAQs, regardless of where students hail from
- Share vote411.org or BallotReady links in your syllabus - they give a nonpartisan overview of all upcoming elections and what's on the ballot all across the country, customized by address
- Include a voting-specific syllabus statement, such as:
- "The University of Michigan encourages eligible students to exercise their right to vote, and students of all citizenship backgrounds to actively engage in issues of public concern. When more people participate, a broader array of perspectives is represented in policies and laws that impact our country, society, and the world. Information about voter registration, polling locations and additional resources are available at govote.umich.edu."
- Make a social media post using UMICH Votes' System of Voting Messaging to share information with students about campus polling locations, voter registration information and key election dates.
Share opportunities for students to learn more
- Tell your students about Turn Up Turnout, Michigan's nonpartisan student group that works to increase voter turnout on campus. They can find more information at https://govote.umich.edu/turn-up-turnout/
- Share information about civic and democratic engagement events on campus (e.g. debate watching parties, guest lectures, meet the candidates, issue forums, townhalls)
I have a few minutes of class time
Try any action from I Don't Have Class Time, plus..
Encourage student voter registration and voting
- Verbally remind students of important registration and election dates in class, like when early voting opens.
- Add a pre-designed voting information slide from Ginsberg Center to your slide deck presentations and share it with your students.
- Show your students this 7-minute 2024 Voting Information Video created by Turn Up Turnout for Election 2024. Topics covered include: who can vote, how old you need to be to register, what address you can register from, registering in Michigan if you are from out of state, when you can vote in person and by mail, what ID and documentation you need to vote, and more!
- Encourage students to check their Michigan voter registration, perhaps all together in class
- Show students how to use their address to search vote411.org or BallotReady - they give a nonpartisan overview of all upcoming elections and what's on the ballot all across the country, customized by address
- Share your own voting plan about when and where you will vote
- Have students complete their own voting plan, using these Victors Voting Plan templates: one-sided, double-sided, fillable pdf
- Share ways that international students can understand and support the U.S. elections. [COMING SOON]
Bring in a voting educator
- Request a 5-10 minute presentation, info table, or in-class announcement on student voting options by students from Turn Up Turnout, a Ginsberg-sponsored student organization. For Fall 2024 requests, contact [email protected] for scheduling.
I have a class session
Try any action from I Don't Have Class Time and I Have a Few Minutes of Class Time, plus..
Facilitate a discussion about the election or an election-related topic
- Structuring Classroom Discussions About Elections - planning guide for discussing elections in the classroom from CRLT & Ginsberg Center
Try a discussion, assignment, or activity focused on civic and democratic engagement
- Civic Learning Activities - a collection of classroom activities from Ginsberg Center, focused on a variety of civic learning topics including decision-making, knowledge production, media literacy, and citizenship
- Dialogue Deck: A Conversation for Political Reflection - a sample activity from the 2020 election by Ginsberg Center and UMMA that uses art to spark reflection about democracy
- Bring students to the "Hey, We Need to Talk!" exhibit in the Eleanor Noyes Crumpacker Gallery at UMMA, which has works of art paired with interactive questions around civic responsibility and national identity that visitors can discuss.
- Practicing Democracy: A Toolkit for Educating Civic Professionals (2023) - published by AAC&U and Campus Compact, this guide offers approaches and strategies for developing students' capacity to engage in collaborative, public problem solving.
- Civic Engagement Resource Database - large database of syllabi, assignments, and activities crowd-sourced by faculty across the country. Searchable by keyword, academic disciplines, class size, institution size. Produced by Project Pericles, a consortium of colleges and universities that promotes civic engagement within higher education. Also available: curriculum, slide decks, and activities on Voter Suppression, Why Voting Matters, Deliberative Dialogue and more
Discuss the connections between your field and civic and democratic engagement
Whether your course content is directly related to civic and democratic engagement or not, sharing how your discipline affects, interacts with, and shapes broader social systems significantly impacts students’ ability to understand and participate in civic life. Politics is about how we make collective agreements about allocating resources, therefore politics is inherent in all disciplines and fields. The same critical skills that help your students critically evaluate the platforms of candidates and elected leaders can help them de-code the politics of your discipline. We offer the following questions to help your students better understand and make sense of this connection.
- How is academic knowledge produced in your field or discipline? Who is included in this knowledge production and who is left out?
- What examples can you share of how broader economic, political, health, educational and social systems impact your discipline or field?
- What forms of data and analysis are considered legitimate in your field and why?
- How has your field changed over time? What examples can you offer of current debates or competing schools of thought?
- How is your discipline or field affected by local, state or federal legislative policies or judicial decisions?
- How has your discipline or field informed local, state or federal legislative policies or judicial decisions
- How might my discipline be impacted by policy decisions as a result of the election?
- How can you help students identify ways to contribute to these processes?
These questions offer a starting point to make visible the decision-making mechanisms of your field. Perhaps more importantly, they allow students to consider ways they can contribute to or influence these mechanisms.
I have a full course/program
Try any action from I Don't Have Class Time, I Have a Few Minutes of Class Time, and I Have a Class Session, plus..
Integrate civic and democratic engagement across the design of your course or program
Some starting points:
- Explore Campus Compact's massive resource library on civic and democratic engagement, student civic learning and leadership, community-engaged research and teaching, and much more
- Explore how to support students on all six Pathways to Civic Engagement and Social Change
- Dig in to these resources to get inspired:
- Social Justice and Human Rights Advocacy Toolkit
- Battistoni, Richard. Civic engagement across the curriculum (2003) [ebook]
- Matto, Elizabeth et. al. Teaching Civic Engagement Across the Disciplines (2017) [ebook]
- Apply for funding from U-M's Year of Democracy initiative to support teaching and learning (up to $5k, unaffiliated with Ginsberg)
I have time to work with colleagues
- Take advantage of U-M's institutional membership to Campus Compact and attend civic and democratic engagement-focused programs, communities of practice, and national conferences - most of which are free to U-M faculty and staff!
- Organize a walk to the polls for your classroom/department/school with Turn Up Turnout. Request a date at [email protected].
- Assist those with transportation needs by encouraging them to use Ride To The Polls. Contact Turn Up Turnout at [email protected] to request a ride or be a driver
- Hold a meeting with other faculty to strategize ways to support students' learning around civic engagement
- Host a panel with faculty or other experts to talk about specific policy issues.
- Bring in a local representative who is legislating about policies relevant to your field or discipline
- Check-in with your professional or disciplinary associations to get ideas for connecting your discipline with public policy
- Join a Ginsberg Center Community of Practice to connect with colleagues at U-M doing civic, democratic, and community-engaged research, teaching & scholarship
- Apply for funding from U-M's Year of Democracy initiative to support events and/or research (both have $5k and $25k levels, unaffiliated with Ginsberg)