Reaffirming Higher Education Public’s Purpose: Periclean Sessions at AAC&U Annual Meeting

Project Pericles is pleased to presenting two sessions at the 2025 American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) Annual Meeting, January 22-24, 2025 in Washington D.C. We are delighted to contribute to a robust agenda of sessions for year’s theme: Reaffirming Higher Education Public’s Purpose, which is extremely aligned with our mission of graduating students to be life-long engaged citizens.

Please join us:
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🗓️ January 23, 2:00-3:15pm: Disrupt Distrust: Fostering Well Being and Resilience through Democratic Engagement.
Sanda Balaban, Executive Director, Project Pericles
Sinda Nichols, Director of the Center for Community and Civic Engagement, Carleton College
Danielle Lake, Director of Design Thinking and Associate Professor of Human Service Studies, Elon University
Bill Harder, Director of Faculty Development and Teaching Excellence and Professor of Political Science, Goucher College
Bernadette Ludwig, Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of Civic Engagement, Wagner CollegeSession Description: The weight of challenges related to the economy, the environment, and political polarization falls heavily on the shoulders of students, leading to distrust of democracy and compounding mental health challenges. But we CAN disrupt the distrust. Research and lived practice demonstrates that fortifying students’ sense of civic identity, agency, and efficacy can foster institutional and political trust and resilience in challenging times.
In this panel, come explore how to provide civic learning opportunities that support individual and communal wellness through cultivating civic capacities to address societal problems.

🗓️ January 24, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM: Co-Creation in Education: Strengthening Communities through Curricular Partnerships.
Arielle del Rosario, Associate Director, Project Pericles
Brian J. Evans, Assistant Professor of Dance & American Studies, Bates College
Anita Chikkatur, Professor of Educational Studies, Carleton College
Julia Chadaga, Associate Professor of Russian Studies, Macalester College
Michelle Chase, Associate Professor of History, Pace University

​Session Description: How can academia effectively navigate the practical challenges of ethical and meaningful community-based learning opportunities?
Panelists representing diverse institutions will share replicable strategies for co-creating transformative civic engagement courses: an Immigrant Oral History Project fostering intercultural empathy in the Twin Cities, an education capstone highlighting “Carcerality in Public Education” co-created and taught with a community expert, an archival project exploring U.S. Latin American policy in NYC, and a first-year seminar connecting students with living definitions of “Embodying Activism” among Maine local activists.