Who’s Afraid of Politics? On the Need to Teach Political Engagement

Political disengagement in higher education is at a crisis point. Despite increased community involvement by students—due in large part to the service-learning movement and to the small but hopeful upsurge in the elections of 2008—there remains a disconnect between young citizens and the political world, leaving them outside the collective decision making that affects their own lives. Students have been taught well to largely abdicate public decisions to presumed experts, organizations, and government officials. In this article, we examine why faculty avoid teaching for political engagement and how this came to be the norm. We urge college-level professors to accept the responsibility to engage students in political matters to showcase the necessary relationships among citizens required for a strong democracy. We conclude with a brief discussion of, and student responses to, programs of study that successfully blend traditional academic instruction with engagement in current political struggles. [authors]