Spanning a diverse range of majors and disciplines, including chemistry, biology, religion, sociology, government, film, and theater, the new Civic Engagement Certificate (CEC) already boasts 23 fall courses and 19 spring courses cross-listed in the Civic Engagement program.
“We’re trying to integrate practical experience of civic activity in volunteer work and internships with academic work, giving students a critical and reflective distance on their practical activities,” said Professor Donald Moon, Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Professor in the College of Social Studies. “Most Wesleyan students participate in some form of civic engagement. The Certificate is designed for students who want to understand the role of engagement in a democracy.”
According to the University website, the CEC is much like the more established certificates, in that it enables students to attain a greater degree of curricular coherence than would otherwise be possible.
“It provides information about how they could pursue that interest by indicating what courses they should take, and the extracurricular activities such as volunteering that they should consider,” Moon said.
The University has long attempted to create an atmosphere that encourages a strong social consciousness and participation in a variety of formal and informal civic activities.
According to the University’s website, civic engagement involves activities that allow individuals to strengthen their communities.
“These activities include volunteer work, practica, and service-learning courses,” the website states. “This certificate is designed for students interested in reflecting upon and integrating their civic and academic efforts.”
Moon believes that the Certificate will help influence the larger University community, even if only a handful of students take explicit advantage of the new opportunity.
“We hope to enable students who are committed to civic engagement to pursue a course of study and related activities that would enhance their capacity to engage in civic life in an effective and thoughtful way,” Moon said. “One of Wesleyan’s great strengths is its engagement with the world, and this program is yet another way in which we can fulfill this aspect of our institutional mission.”
The Certificate is also closely linked with the Service-Learning course cluster, which integrates experiences outside the classroom with an academic curriculum taught in a classroom setting.
“Civic engagement involves bringing attention to the voices of individuals who might otherwise not be heard by the larger society,” said Professor of Theater Ronald Jenkins, who teaches two prison outreach theater classes within the Service-Learning course cluster.
The Certificate entails several requirements: a sophomore year foundation course, at least five courses related to civic engagement, a minimum of 40 hours of service work, a practicum, and a senior seminar.
One of the best examples of courses offered within the certificate is the prison outreach course THEA205, Prison Outreach Through Theater. The course, which is taught by Professor of Theater Ron Jenkins, brings together students and incarcerated adults to explore and perform texts written by incarcerated individuals.
“I became involved in the program through the Service-Learning Program, where I taught courses demonstrating how theater can be experienced as a catalyst for social change,” Jenkins said. “My experience with the transformative power of theater came when I was incarcerated in South Africa while researching performances staged as protests against apartheid. In an absurdly overcrowded cell, I was astonished to see how they defied the injustice of their imprisonment by transforming it into a celebration of resistance to apartheid, performing protest songs, dances and satirical humor.”
Civic engagement has long been a focus of the University, so the program is not altogether revolutionary or without foundation. President Roth made social dedication a key strategy in “Wesleyan 2020: A Framework for Planning” through the creation of the Civic Engagement Committee. This committee suggests methods of expanding engagement opportunities, and one of the outgrowths of this committee is the newly founded Certificate.
Professor Jenkins sees the implications of this course as reaching far beyond anything exclusive to the University.
“Giving voice to this voiceless population is one of the ways that civic engagement can contribute to social change,” Jenkins said. “When Wesleyan students perform the writings of incarcerated individuals with incarcerated individuals, they are expanding the boundaries of civic engagement beyond the confines of the course and contributing to the transformation of attitudes, which is a necessary step towards the transformation of society.”