Blog

Skip to search results Skip to search facet filtersSkip to pagination

Current Search Limits:
Program Components
Outreach > Inter-Institutional Collaboration

From Civic Engagement to Civic Courage—Science Education's Next Chapter


Posted: Jun 8 2023 by

Eliza Jane Reilly
National Center for Science and Civic Engagement
Eliza Jane Reilly, Executive Director, National Center for Science and Civic Engagement

Change Topics (Working Groups): Guiding Theories, Equity and Inclusion
Target Audience: College/University Staff, Non-tenure Track Faculty, Tenured/Tenure-track Faculty, Institution Administration, Graduate Students, Post-doctoral Fellows
Program Components: Professional Development:Diversity/Inclusion, Pedagogical Training, Supporting Students:Student Engagement, Outreach:Inter-Institutional Collaboration

It is hard to escape the fact that the relationship of evidence-based or scientific thinking to civic life in a democracy--which had been acknowledged by the science advocacy community for over a century--has attained a new urgency in the age of fake news and alternative facts. Recently a colleague remarked that the project I helped found and now lead, Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities (SENCER) "was ahead of its time," and I've been reflecting on that idea. Historians love to quote the philosopher Kierkegaard who observed, "we live forward, but understand backward." And I've spent a lot of time this year trying to "understand backward" the broader cultural and educational context that produced SENCER to consider whether SENCER was indeed "ahead," or more accurately an embodiment of the best thinking available in its own time.[1]  I'm especially concerned with considering what elements of our collective past can support a future of civically and socially-engaged learning in science, despite a dramatically altered academic landscape. This changed landscape includes the precarity of faculty status and autonomy, the contraction of institutional finances, unprecedented student needs and expectations, and frankly, the decline of administrative leadership in the face of political pressure, which has provided much less space for creativity and academic innovation. More

Transforming Institutions Takeaways


Posted: Jun 24 2021 by

Rachel Renbarger
Western Michigan University
Rachel Renbarger, Western Michigan University

Change Topics (Working Groups): Guiding Theories, Change Leaders, Assessment, Policy, Costs and Benefits, Equity and Inclusion, Faculty Evaluation
Target Audience: In-Service K12 Teachers, College/University Staff, Non-tenure Track Faculty, Tenured/Tenure-track Faculty, Institution Administration
Program Components: Professional Development:Diversity/Inclusion, Cultural Competency, Institutional Systems:Interdepartmental Collaboration, Supporting Students:Professional Preparation, Outreach:Policy Change, Inter-Institutional Collaboration

Last week concluded the 2021 Transforming Institutions Conference that marked the 10th year of convening like-minded change leaders. The event was a rousing success; we had over 250 participants from at least 3 continents with over 40 concurrent presentations, 60+ posters, and 4 workshops containing research-based strategies for improving higher education. What did we learn from such an amazing event? More

RSS