From Global to Local: Service-Learning in a Comparative Politics Course

Abstract

Students enrolled in introductory general education courses in Political Science are often uninterested in and unfamiliar with the subject matter and do not see its relevance to their lives. Hoping to overcome these obstacles, I implemented service-learning into my introductory Comparative Politics course. In order to do this, I partnered with local nonprofits and government agencies working on topics relevant to the course content. Students then selected one of these partners to work with throughout the semester. The goal was for them to not only see how the course subject matter might apply in their own lives but specifically how the global issues we learn about in our course apply in our local area. Students were surveyed at the beginning and end of the semester and wrote multiple reflection papers regarding their experiences. They generally reported high levels of satisfaction with the service-learning approach as well as understanding of the importance of civic and community engagement.