Taking Action

The senior-level Action Plan is where the Citizenship and Civic Engagement major departs most strikingly from other undergraduate majors.

This is a project in which all the facets of the program - understanding citizenship, mastering a social science, and engaging with current social issues - come together in the student's own concrete plan to make a difference. An Action Plan might entail writing a grant for an agency, proposing policy to a senator, or starting a nonprofit organization.

An Action Plan is unlike a senior thesis. It provides not only a cogent analysis of a particular issue. As the name suggests, it charts action. It posits a plan that a person or organization can implement.

With the Action Plan, as with the Citizenship and Civic Engagement major in general, faculty advisors help students with research, analysis, and strategy, but the goal and direction of the project ultimately come from the students themselves.

For those who pursue the Citizenship and Civic Engagement major and develop their own Action Plan, a completed degree is more than the endpoint of an academic program; it marks the beginning of a life as a knowledgeable, active, and effective citizen.