A new civic engagement course launched this spring at BEC Hudson Valley. Taught by Cicily Wilson, Assistant Dean of Civic Engagement & Director of Community Partnerships for the Center for Civic Engagement at Bard College, this elective was collaboratively developed last year by Bard Early College students and faculty as part of the Engaged Liberal Arts and Sciences (ELAS) Fellowship.

The Engaged Liberal Arts and Sciences (ELAS) Fellowship awarded institutional support to faculty and students from Bard Early College to collaboratively develop a set of liberal arts seminar courses. The new courses center key community challenges and issues in course content and in classroom activities and assignments, empowering students to develop creative and practical approaches to social, cultural, and scientific issues. Alongside Bard College’s Vice President and Dean of the Early Colleges, Dr. Dumaine Williams, and Vice President for Civic Engagement, Erin Canann, five faculty members and five students were awarded ELAS Fellowship awards to develop these courses:

This year in Professor Wilson’s course, students are exploring what civic engagement means to them by examining inequities that exist in their own communities. What resources are available to citizens? Are there gaps that aren’t currently being addressed? Through research, text exploration, and dialogue, the cohort is collaborating on a civic engagement project addressing a specific need they identify in the community. The curriculum aims to foster each student’s leadership skills and offer an opportunity for students to take an active role in their community’s growth.

The ELAS Fellowship that lead to the design of this course was generously funded by a grant from the Hewlett Foundation.