Civic Health Initiative hosts a Democracy Scholar Meetup for UW researchers

Approximately 60 faculty members, post-doctoral fellows and doctoral students from across the University of Washington gathered at the Husky Union Building on March 7, 2025 to attend an inaugural Democracy Scholarly Meetup hosted by the Civic Health Initiative.

Motivated by these concerns about the state of our civic health and democratic institutions, the attendees met with the intention of engaging in generative discussions to determine what actionable steps can be taken to build a healthier, more hopeful democracy. The foundational question for the attendees to consider throughout the meetup was, “Given what we know as scholars about the state of democratic institutions, practices and civic health, what actions might we take in this University at this time to strengthen and deepen our democracy?”

A sampling of the 21 topics that emerged across two rounds of discussion were disrupting disinformation infrastructures, protecting academic freedom, intergenerational civic health, respect and civility, community-engaged scholarship to support and advance democracy and what civic education really means.

Attendees offered overwhelmingly positive feedback from the meetup, so a spring quarter follow-up event has been scheduled for Friday, May 2, 2025, from 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., to allow space to explore additional topics. If you would like to attend the May 2 event, please register for the meetup by completing our RSVP form.

Initiative announces funding call for teaching and curriculum awards, small research grants

The University of Washington Civic Health Initiative has released a funding call for small grants intended to encourage the development of both teaching and curricular innovations and research discoveries for activities and projects that seek to revitalize civic health and bolster democratic institutions across the country.

Innovations proposed for funding to these grant programs must align with one or more of the areas of focus for the Initiative’s work. Applications for both programs are due on Thursday, May 1, 2025.

Teaching and curriculum awards

The purpose of this funding mechanism is to support UW faculty members who have innovative proposals that approach civic health, civic engagement and democracy through new curricular perspectives, methods and activities. The Initiative’s interests are broad in scope, so applications can propose projects with a range of foci. These foci include, but are not limited to, revising a course, creating an interactive learning activity, designing a student experience and so forth. Awards of up to $2,000 each are available.

Research awards

The purpose of this grant is to support faculty members and PI-eligible research staff to develop preliminary data or proof-of-concept needed to pursue follow-on funding or additional concept development to scale one’s efforts. Research projects should seek to catalyze new lines of inquiry and may include, but not be limited to, qualitative or qualitative empirical work, data analysis, evidence synthesis, comparative study, and so forth. Awards of up to $25,000 each are available.

Learn more

Please visit the Initiative’s funding page to learn more about both of these programs.

UW Tacoma’s NextGen Civic Leader Corps program grows its reach and offerings in its second year

In just its second year of operation at the University of Washington Tacoma, the NextGen Civic Leader Corps has empowered many students through its civic engagement and professional development programs. Developed through a tri-campus initiative between the UW Evans School of Public Policy & Governance and UW Bothell’s Office of Community Partnerships, this program helps connect undergraduates interested in public service careers to a national network.

This year, student officers debuted their first NextGen Social, designed to display the program’s many benefits, including the micro-credential that UW Tacoma students can earn in civic engagement. Students can earn a NextGen Civic Leader Corps Digital Badge in addition to learning key leadership skills through varied coursework, experiential learning opportunities, and professional networking.

With further events and collaboration opportunities on the horizon, NextGen is influencing the outlook for civic leadership at UW Tacoma and beyond.

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UW-developed media literacy training is adopted in Iowa and California

MisinfoDay @ MyCommunity, a program developed and launched by the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public (CIP), is being adopted around the nation.

A group of librarians at Des Moines University, a private medical university, were the latest to adapt the MisinfoDay activities for a community event. The university adapted the activities to help medical students better address misinformation between both patients and clients. Event attendees completed hands-on activities, including the Euphorigen Investigation, an educational escape room style game developed at the CIP in collaboration with Puzzle Break. Event organizers saw the games facilitating profound discussions of misinformation’s impact, particularly in clinical spaces.

In May 2024, nearly 100 high schoolers took part in California’s first MisinfoDay trainings, showcasing the proliferation of this important project. With media literacy increasingly critical, MisinfoDay @ MyCommunity is an important program that educators can use for a diverse range of audiences.

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