Civic Engagement
Networking to Build a Stronger and Healthier Democracy
A founding ethos of MDI is to generate collaborative scholarship on democracy into the everyday practices of our campus and surrounding communities. This is manifest not only in student-focused campus events but in leveraging the assets of our many network partners, including UMD faculty and staff in other disciplines, our Big Ten partner schools, democracy-focused non-profits, public servants, teachers, other practitioners in democracy-related fields, and our university partners in the University System of Maryland.
Convenings for a Healthier Democracy
MDI has hosted multiple events that convene stakeholders and partners seeking collaborative solutions to problems in democracy. Whether small team-building meetings or large, high-profile events, these experiences are designed to allow UMD students, staff, faculty, community members, partners, and experts from around the region and nation to co-design research, inform advocacy strategies and work plans, celebrate “what’s working” and discuss ways to remove barriers to full democratic participation for all. Each of these gatherings serves multiple elements of the university’s strategic plan, especially investing in people, taking on grand challenges, and partnering for the common good.
The half-day event was designed for the UMD community of students, faculty, staff, and alumni to come together to learn about the recent Supreme Court decisions relating to race-conscious considerations for higher education and to engage in discussion about how we can best affirm and ensure UMD attracts, supports, serves, and prepares all Maryland students for life, work, and participation in our shared democracy. The event featured a presentation by notable UMD scholars, panel discussions among MDI deans and university leadership, and facilitated dialogues in small groups, allowing all 75+ participants to share their perspectives, concerns, and ideas for how our university can best move forward together.
Co-hosted by MDI, campus partners TerpsVote, and the National Students Learn Students Vote Coalition, the Summit attracted hundreds of students, staff, and university leaders from 65 colleges and universities, 62 nonprofit organizations and three election offices and representing 25 U.S. states and DC. Over three days, participants built connections across the nonpartisan student engagement space, shared lessons learned and resources, and created a shared momentum and collective goals to register, mobilize, and educate college voters in the upcoming elections.
Partnerships, Capacity Building, and Leadership
MDI leads numerous local, state, and national coalitions to build collective capacity and to lead efforts to support democratic engagement. Our strategic partnerships power our research, teaching and learning, and civic engagement activities.
Collectively, we lead and leverage these extensive networks, but we also learn with and from our growing number of partners. We conduct research that prioritizes co-created and mutually beneficial research-practice partnerships with stakeholders. We convene partners to identify and solve democracy’s problems together.
Building Networks to Promote Civic Engagement in Higher Education
MDI faculty co-founded and co-leads The Big Ten Collaboration on Democracy in the 21st Century, a public policy school network that connects student learning and debate on key issues facing our democracy with civic action.
MDI Team Members: Paul Brown | Mike Hanmer
MDI faculty have helped to build out state and national higher education networks devoted to preparing students to engage in a self-governed democracy. This groundbreaking work includes serving on advisory committees and leading fora of the Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement Coalition and the University System of Maryland’s Civic Engagement Community Engagement Council. Learn more about civic learning at UMD and beyond.
MDI Team Members: Lena Morreale Scott | Paul Brown
MDI faculty co-lead an ad-hoc Cross Campus Civic Engagement Working Group at the University of Maryland that brings together students, faculty, and staff in Student Affairs, University Relations, the Libraries, and multiple colleges and academic disciplines to share information about opportunities to collaborate on providing civic engagement opportunities to the Terp community.
MDI Team Members: Paul Brown | Lena Morreale Scott
Building Networks for Informed Choices in a Self-Governed Democracy
MDI faculty, together with their colleagues in the College of Journalism, lead the Local News Network, which aids news outlets throughout Maryland by creating important localized news content and by teaming those news outlets with student reporters. The program strengthens local news coverage while providing students with invaluable experience in local news reporting.
MDI Team Members: Sarah Oates | Rafael Lorente | Tom Rosenstiel
MDI faculty head the Science Learning Research Group, which conducts research examining reasoning and critical thinking and collective agency in response to science denial and disinformation.
MDI Team Members: Doug Lombardi
Leadership in Organizing for Action to Improve P-20 Civic Learning
MDI faculty partners closely with pre-K-12 educators and administrators in schools and school systems. MDI faculty co-founded and co-lead the Maryland Civic Education Coalition, a statewide coalition of middle-, high- and college students, educators, scholars, and civic partners who design and deliver professional development for teachers, nonprofit organization leaders, policymakers and community members dedicated to meaningful civic education and service-learning opportunities for all Maryland students.
MDI Team Members: Lena Morreale Scott | Antoine Banks | Paul Brown | Mike Hanmer | Sarah McGrew | Sam Novey
MDI faculty serve as the Maryland liaison to the nation’s leading civic education and advocacy coalition, CivXNow.
MDI Team Member: Lena Morreale Scott
Building Youth Involvement in Democratic Engagement
MDI faculty, together with our partners UMD's Leadership & Community Services Learning and TerpsVote, have built a new platform to connect students in the University System of Maryland with the Maryland Board of Elections to place poll workers where needs arise across the state. The University of Maryland, with the support of a grant from the federal Election Assistance Commission, will coordinate this work with all the campuses within the USM system.
MDI Team Member: Paul Brown
MDI faculty helped found and lead the international Vote16 Research Network and are in the beginning stages of creating the nation’s leading hub for research and voter mobilization for high school voters.
MDI Team Members: Mike Hanmer | Paul Brown | Sam Novey