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This page is for the “Civics 101” class for Cycle 1. We will meet four times on Friday afternoons via Zoom from 1pm to 3pm via Zoom (except the final class will go to 4pm). We meet on November 10, November 17 – skip a week – December 1, December 8.
Our focus for this Cycle will be to gain an understanding of what civic engagement and DOING civics for change, service, and justice is all about. The Zoom link will be the same for all four sessions -> www.tinyurl.com/Zoom-C1-Civics101.
Please take this quick introductory survey by November 9 -> www.tinyurl.com/icstars-C1-Intro – This will help me get to know the Cycle better faster.
Instructions for your final project “Putting Out the Fire – Addressing My Burning Issue” -> www.tinyurl.com/C1-Assignment.
To schedule a 30 minute Civic Chat with Tom via Zoom, please use Calendly.
After each session the audio, slide deck, and any handouts for that session will be posted here.
Class #1 – Friday, November 10, 2023
- Welcome and context for this class
- How we will run the class, schedule – Review of class website
- Introductions
- About the final project – all Interns will do a presentation at last class – “Putting Out the Fire – Addressing Your Burning Issue” – see link above for assignment instructions.
- Why do civics, in the first place?
- Case story on the nature and value of “Public” – The story of “Pay to Spray”
- Small group work on the case – “Pay to Spray”
- The Three Buckets of Civic Engagement
- Domain #1 = “Civic Heart” – What should be our disposition, mindset, or ways of FEELING in order to be great civic actors? What kind of person are you BEFORE you step into civics and what kind of person will be GREAT at civics?
- Lift up the top three aspects of “Civic Heart”
- Small group work to assign behavioral evidence of those top three aspects
I picked “Respect” by Aretha Franklin as my song because it is an inspirational song due to its context. A man named Otis Redding initially wrote the song seemingly demanding respect from his woman when he came home. Aretha totally flipped the context of his song upside down and she demanded that same respect. At the time, it was very powerful during civil rights and feminist movements and it is still powerful to this day. Her passion and her resilience shine through in this song and it inspires me to strive for more and to keep pushing forward.
Class #2 – Friday, November 17, 2023
- Review Session 1
- Introduction of the concept of Servant-Leadership – we will return to this concept as we work through the domains of Civic Engagement
- Domain #2 = “Civic Brain” – What sorts of things ought we KNOW in order to be powerful civic actors? Facts. Constructs. Context.
- Small group work and discussion
- Connections to the features of Servant Leadership
That song has always been my theme song. It’s very inmspirational. It gets me in the mood, and leaves my very, very humble and ready to go!
Class #3 – Friday, December 1, 2023 – NOTE – SKIP A WEEK –
- Review Session 2
- Domain #3 = “Civic Muscle” – What sorts of things should be able to DO/HAVE DONE to do great civic work? Abilities. Experiences. Activities.
- Small group work and discussion
- Connections to the features of Servant Leadership
Class #4 – Friday, December 8, 2023 (go to 4pm)
- Interns each make a six minute presentation on their solution to their “burning issue” [Instructions]
- Please do practice and time yourself – we need to watch the clock to make sure all Interns can present and that we have enough time for discussion and wrap up.
- Please note we are going an extra 60 minutes
- Closing remarks from Instructor
This is an old song, but I remember my mother used to play this for me all the time when she was teaching me how to read. It always uplifts me when I hear it. I think it can uplift anybody!