Field Studies in Civic Engagement: CFS 397-0
Credits available:1-4 credits during Fall, Winter, Spring, or Summer.
Credits toward degree: CFS credits typically count towards general elective credits.
For Weinberg students who started at Northwestern before Summer 2023, this course will count one credit toward Weinberg Distribution Requirement for Area III: Social and Behavioral Sciences.
For Weinberg students who started at Northwestern in or after Summer 2023 (including transfer students), this course will count one credit toward the Weinberg Foundation Discipline in Social and Behavioral Sciences. Additionally, it will count one credit toward the Perspectives 1: U.S. Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity overlay.
For students in other NU schools, please talk with your academic advisor to see if this or other CFS classes count towards any requirements for you.
Students can take CFS 397-0 twice, once with CFS in Fall, Winter, or Spring and once with the Engage Chicago summer program (our partnership with CCE).
Course Description
What does it mean to “engage” in the civic life of a place or community? What kinds of jobs or activities are especially “civic”? And what types of challenges and opportunities might work in advocacy, philanthropy, social service, community development, government, politics, public/private partnerships, or related fields entail? In this course we will look to Chicago, Evanston, and your internships to learn about structures and practices of the civic sphere, to interrogate inequities in civic life and political power, and to explore the work of building, governing, and living together. Along the way, we will ground our explorations of civic engagement in the history of Chicago and Evanston, with a particular eye towards social and economic inequity as well as various approaches to social betterment.
This course tends to attract students interested in public interest work of many stripes, but it welcomes students with all types of internships and from all majors. Course texts and topics cross disciplines and raise complex questions. Regardless of internship field, you will be encouraged to reflect on your internship throughout and to consider how your organization or experiences there might entail public or civic concerns.
Possible instructors: Liz McCabe, Sarah Silins, and others