Community Engagement for Civics Education (CE)2 or “CE Squared”

• What is the role for higher education in encouraging citizen civic participation? • Does teaching civics really increase community interest in the political process? • Do “regular” people in the community care about the process of governing? • Would our state be a better place if more people registered and voted? This paper describes the successful development of a small grant funded project, Community Engagement for Civics Education: (CE)2, at Walters State Community College (Morristown, Tennessee) which culminated in a series of student-led public civics classes presented free on-campus for any member of our multi-county area who was interested in learning more about how our government works and how civic engagement can promote good government.