Inspiring Civic Action

Never has there been a more consequential time for young people to confront the challenges facing our democracy, to engage with diverse perspectives, and to consider solutions to the complex issues of our time. This spring, Close Up is offering Inspiring Civic Action, a series of six online civic engagement workshops to bring together high school students from communities across the country.

Our curriculum specialists will also provide teachers with a virtual professional development training session and ready-to-use classroom resources to support continued student discussion at home.

Through a series of online discussions designed and facilitated by Close Up instructors, students will engage with peers nationwide for bi-weekly, one-hour sessions. In those sessions, students will build community, learn about and share their political values, deliberate about critical policy issues brought forward by young activists, and consider methods of activating members of their communities to take action.

By engaging students from different backgrounds in meaningful dialogue, we aim to help students develop empathy for the perspectives of others and build the skills and confidence to empower a generation of change-makers. Students will deliberate about pressing issues such as:

• Health Care and COVID-19: COVID-19 has shown the ways in which social and economic factors affect health outcomes. How should we address inequalities of access and care in the United States?
• Law Enforcement Reform: In the wake of nationwide protests, how should we address racial injustice in this country and reform police practices?

Participation in a Close Up program requires parent or guardian approval for any participants under 18 years of age.