| Teaching Civic Engagement Globally is the result of collaborative work spanning scholars from multiple disciplines, fields, and careers. Political scientists, educators, and students have joined to produce important, timely research. |
Chapter 13: Civic Engagement and the Global Liberal Arts College: Empowering Students through Immersive Curriculum, Interactive Pedagogy, Experiential Learning, and Residential Education
by Catherina Shea Sanger, Yale-NUS College, Singapore, and Wei Lit Yew, Hong Kong Baptist University
This chapter empirically illustrates how civic engagement education has been fostered and hindered in a less liberal context, with Yale NUS College in Singapore as the case study. Our findings are informed by focus group interviews, document analysis, and personal observations. Building on the conceptual foundation in Chapter 4, we argue that the liberal arts and sciences common curriculum, active learning pedagogies, intimacy and multinationalism of the college community, support for student initiatives, and can-do culture of Yale-NUS have combined to nourish vibrant spaces for student civic engagement. However, there remain barriers to civic engagement. These include students’ workload and major selection, perceived liberal bias in the college, national political regulations, and the intimacy of the college community, which can be a double-edged sword. Additionally, international students have faced distinctive challenges such as Singapore’s legal and cultural constraints on political engagement, and the absence of a critical mass of co-nationals for collective action.
About Teaching Civic Engagement Globally
Educators around the globe are facing challenges in teaching politics in an era in which populist values are on the rise, authoritarian governance is legitimized, and core democratic tenets are regularly undermined. To combat anti-democratic outcomes and citizens’ apathy, Teaching Civic Engagement Globally provides a wide range of pedagogical tools to help the current generation learn to effectively navigate debates and lead changes in local, national, and global politics. Contributors discuss key theoretical discussions and challenges regarding global civic engagement education, highlight successful evidence-based pedagogical approaches, and review effective ways to reach across disciplines and the global education community.