Description: This work argues that colleges and universities are important locations for building students' capacities for civic participation. Grounded in literature and personal experience, the authors advance pedagogical strategies that promote civic responsibility and prepare students to navigate today's polarized political landscape.
Brief description: Angela M. McGowan-Kirsch is associate professor of communication at The State University of New York at Fredonia.
Review Quotes:
"A valuable resource for all teacher-scholars who aspire to teach the skills of citizenship required for cultivating and caretaking a robust civil society predicated on civic self-actualization and democratic self-determination." --Steve Rahko, Assistant Professor of Communication, Illinois State University, USA
"Students need to emerge from their college experience as active and participating citizens in a republican democracy. Universities have an obligation to train students for that citizenship, but our pedagogical tools often are inadequate to provide them with the best preparation for active engagement. In Angela McGowan-Kirch's "Encouraging College Students' Democratic Engagement in an Era of Political Polarization", I found a wealth of strategies and tactics that I want to employ for my students. Experienced educators share their methods for enhancing civil discourse, overcoming polarization and negative partisanship, and preparing students for the active citizenship that a hyperconnected world requires." --Chapman Rackaway, Professor of Political Science, Radford University, USA