Intentional Teaching, a show about teaching in higher education Teaching Civic Engagement with Bridget Trogden, James Burns, Megan VanGorder, and Nafisa Nipun Tanjeem
The Civic Engagement & Voting Rights Teacher Scholars program serves as an avenue for faculty to work together to create classroom teaching materials – by faculty, for faculty – to support a thriving American democracy. The Teacher Scholars are recruited and supported from across the nation to work in cross-institutional, cross-disciplinary, humanities and arts-based faculty learning communities. The Teacher Scholars design, create, and disseminate openly licensed pedagogical materials for use in college courses nationwide.
Today's guests are the co-directors of the program, Bridget Trogden, dean of undergraduate education and academic student services and professor of education at American University, and James Burns, professor of history at Clemson University, as well as two program participants: Megan VanGorder, assistant professor of history at Illinois State University, and Nafisa Nipun Tanjeem, associate professor of interdisciplinary studies at Worcester State University.
We have a lively conversation about the importance of teaching civic engagement in the year 2026, the strategies that these faculty use to engage students in these challenging topics, and the value of a faculty development experience structured like this one.
Episode Resources
Civic Engagement & Voting Rights Teacher Scholars Program
The program’s repository of open educational resources
Megan VanGorder’s resources for “Key Issues in State and Federal Constitutional Government”
Bridget Trogden’s faculty page
Nafisa Nipun Tanjeem’s website
Bethany Morrison’s Teaching Hub collection “Teaching for Democratic Engagement and Civic Learning”
Podcast Links:
Intentional Teaching is sponsored by UPCEA, the online and professional education association.
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