News and Events: 2017-18
ENACT: The Educational Network for Active Civic Transformation is happy to announce the second cohort of ENACT Faculty Fellows. The newest 13 faculty fellows hail from colleges and universities in or near the state capitals of Alabama, California, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon and Pennsylvania.
This cohort of fellows joins a thriving national network of 16 faculty fellows across the United States who are teaching new courses or enhancing existing courses that engage students in hands-on study and work related to state-level legislation. Fellows will advance this work together, as all 29 fellows learn from one another's pedagogy and sharing in each other's successes.
Gail Miller reflects on her experiences in Faculty Fellow Kathleen Cole's ENACT course in spring 2017.
"I had a rather limited understanding of politics and democratic institutions when I enrolled in the Advocacy for Policy Change course in spring 2017; and the extent of my political participation was voting every few years. Before taking this class, I was unaware that there are many other ways to communicate my preferences to elected officials. I believed if an election did not turn out the way I hoped, I was left to hope someone 'better' got elected next time.
"Since taking Advocacy for Policy Change, I have a much better understanding of how my state legislature functions, who the representatives are, how to access information about legislation important to me, and how to effectively communicate my preferences to the appropriate political actors. I also learned how to find local advocacy groups working on the issues I am interested in, which enabled me to build meaningful relationships with like-minded people, furthered my education on how to be an involved citizen, and further amplified my political voice."
In August 2017, more than 5,000 state legislators, legislative staff, government officials, business representatives, educators and others interested in public policy from across the United States and abroad gathered in Boston for the annual Summit of the National Conference of State Legislatures. And ENACT was there. ENACT representatives met with legislators from states that currently host ENACT courses, as well as with others who are interested in supporting the ENACT model of engaging young people in state-level legislative change based on a shared commitment to knowledge, cooperation, justice and integrity.
"ENACT offers the promise of inspiring and supporting students across the nation to become engaged citizens, even as they inform and empower their own legislatures," said NCSL Executive Director William T. Pound in an endorsement letter.