Table C: Building Democratic Learning into Our Institutions: Four Case Studies from Minnesota

Minnesota has a legacy of high civic participation in elections and community organizing efforts. Yet, despite state policies that still support civic participation, this particular moment is testing the limits of these seemingly ingrained civic practices for students, staff, and higher education institutions. Three faculty and staff from institutions across Minnesota—St. Olaf College and Metro State University—will share information and strategies about their curricular, cocurricular, and community-engaged research practices through the lens of several questions, including: What does democratic learning mean in your context? How does your work advance our understanding of democracy in theory and practice? Why is this complexity important to sustaining a healthy democracy? What are the opportunities and challenges of doing this work at this time? Attendees will then be invited to workshop definitions of democratic learning and mapping democratic learning on their campuses.