The Office of Civic Engagement supports faculty across disciplines as they integrate community engagement and service into coursework in order to promote student inquiry about specific places and issues, deepen students’ understanding of diverse perspectives, and encourage students’ development as civic agents. 

The Certificate in Civic and Global Leadership

The Certificate in Civic and Global Leadership offers two tracks of academic study and credit designed to complement students’ academic year or summer community engaged internships. Combining community development theory and practice with an interdisciplinary approach, the certificate culminates in an applied capstone project with a global or local community partner that enhances students’ communication, research, and project design skills while also fostering the social good.

The Community-Engaged Learning Program

The Community-Engaged Learning program offers academic courses across the curriculum with a community engagement component. Each course integrates community engagement and service to activate the liberal arts. Students can search the schedule of classes on the registrar's website for courses with "Community Engagement" in the description.

Community Engagement Course Designation

Proposals for Civic Engagement course designation will be reviewed by the Office of Civic Engagement. If you have questions about these criteria for Civic Engagement courses or would like assistance in developing a civic engagement course, please contact Amy Patterson, aspatter@sewanee.edu. Please submit the form linked below, your syllabus (or course outline, if syllabus is not complete), and your proposal to ce@sewanee.edu.

Community Engaged Learning Faculty Fellowships

Community Engaged Learning Faculty Fellows develop courses and research opportunities that enhance students’ learning through community engagement. Fellows participate in workshops and personalized advising to build connections with community partners and craft course offerings that link classroom learning with hands-on experiences that promote social good. Fellows mentor other faculty to offer future community engagement courses. 

Faculty Resources for CEL courses

Here are some additional resources about community-engaged learning courses.

Community Engagement Courses

Introduction to Civic and Global Leadership
Civic and Global Leadership

An interdisciplinary examination of the theoretical and analytical tools essential for an understanding of civic engagement and leadership. Topics focus on typical problems faced in the context of community change, including, but not limited to, framing social issues; qualitative and quantitative field research methods; socioeconomic, cultural, political, and global structures underlying poverty; the social change model of leadership development; human capabilities perspective; and cross-cultural communication.

CIVC 200
Taught by Amy S. Patterson
Philanthropy: Theory and Practice
Civic And Global Leadership

An introduction to the theory and practice of philanthropy. Using the history and philosophy of philanthropy in North America as a foundation, this course examines giving and grant-making processes and their effects on institutions and society. Assumptions about giving are interrogated in order to establish meaningful criteria for evaluating organizations and grant supported projects. This course also provides insight into the nonprofit sector, specifically organizations working in rural communities.

CIVC 310
Taught by Katie Goforth
Global Health Governance
Politics Department

Trade, migration, and widespread travel have transformed population health from a domestic to an international issue, one in which state cooperation is increasingly necessary. Investigating the role of international organizations, the media, advocacy groups, and individuals, this course questions how international cooperation can facilitate the promotion and protection of health. To do so, it considers a variety of theoretical approaches including the securitization of health and health as a human right. It also examines such issues as smallpox eradication, tobacco control, AIDS treatment, and bioterrorism agreements.

POLS 321
Taught by Amy S. Patterson
Principles of Human Nutrition
Biology

This course provides an introduction to nutrition and focuses on the relationship between diet and health. Topics include physiological requirements and functions of protein, energy, and the major vitamins and minerals that are determinants of health and diseases in human populations. These basic concepts are applied to societal issues, including the role of diet in malnutrition, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Community engagement.

BIOL 180
Taught by Celeste Gray
View All