Judithanne Scourfield-McLauchlan, associate director of the Bishop Center for Ethical Leadership and Engagement
Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan, Ph.D., associate director of the Bishop Center for Ethical Leadership and Engagement at USF St. Petersburg, contributed a chapter for a new textbook on civic engagement.
The book, Teaching Civic Engagement: From Student to Active Citizen, was recently published by the American Political Science Association.
McLauchlan, associate professor of political science, wrote Chapter 18, “Learning Citizenship by Doing: Integrating Political Campaign Internships into the Political Science Curriculum.”
She analyzed data from American National Government and Practical Politics courses she taught during the past eight years to determine whether and how incorporating internships into the political science curriculum could increase students’ civic and political engagement. The conclusion: The political campaign internship component had a dramatic impact on the students’ understanding of and appreciation for the subject matter as well as on the students’ interest in participating in government and their willingness to take an active role as citizens.
Read more about the book here: http://community.apsanet.org/TeachingCivicEngagement/Home/
The Bishop Center for Ethical Leadership and Civic Engagement promotes the study and practice of good leadership through interdisciplinary research, teaching and experiential learning across the USF St. Petersburg curriculum. The Bishop Center is also the home of USFSP’s Civic Engagement Program and the Citizen Scholar Program.
USFSP students have performed more than 800,000 hours of community service learning over the past seven years through the Citizen Scholar Program, encompassing over 250 different courses which are included in the Citizen Scholar Course Catalog (include link). About 60 such courses are offered each semester. USFSP has been designated by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as a “community engaged” university, one of only 311 universities so named, for its institutional commitment to and practice of civic engagement.
“Dr. McLauchlan’s work epitomizes the value that USF St. Petersburg places on civic engagement across the curriculum,” said Norine Noonan, Ph.D., Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. “Students learn and the entire community benefits from this approach.”