1) What exactly is “civic renewal”?
Civic renewal is the effort to forge or reinvigorate citizen links to public affairs at the local, state, national, and international levels. In turn, this renewed citizen engagement will result in the strengthening of societal, political, and governmental institutions. The civic renewal movement is a major component of both current politics and scholarship.
2) Why was the Center for Civic Renewal established in 1999?
The Center for Civic Renewal embodies Sweet Briar’s response to rampant civic disengagement in the United States. Whether measured by low voter turnout, high levels of distrust in government, deficiencies in civic education, general apathy toward public affairs, or increasing social isolation, this alarming trend threatens the ability of American constitutional democracy to function effectively in the 21st century.
3) Is the Center for Civic Renewal a “place” at Sweet Briar?
Temporarily, the Center’s offices are housed in the Sweet Briar Government Department in Benedict. In the near future the CCR will need separate facilities on the campus. These would include staff offices, as well as seminar and reading rooms for students and visiting scholars and journalists.
4) What does the Center offer Sweet Briar students?
The CCR provides a wide array of programs, services, and academic support for SBC students. Courses that relate to CCR symposium topics are a regular feature of the Center. For example, to coordinate with the Fall 2000 Symposium on “Technocracy in America 2000: The Media’s Impact on Presidential Politics,” Professor Barbara Perry taught a class on the presidency and an honors seminar on media and politics. Professor Steve Bragaw has offered an honors seminar on Native Americans and the Constitution in anticipation of a future Conference on “Indian Sovereignty in Virginia.” The Center also awards endowed scholarships to students who demonstrate interest and participation in public affairs. Workshops to train students on how to acquire public service internships and public law careers have been sponsored by the CCR. (Visit the “Student Spotlight” link on the CCR Web site for updates on and from current Sweet Briar students and their contributions to the civic renewal movement.)
5) Does the CCR provide a unified curriculum for SBC students?
The curricular foundation for the Center for Civic Renewal is the Law & Society Program. Offering an interdisciplinary minor in how law and society interrelate, the program provides a vehicle for implementing a key component of the CCR’s mission, namely, “fostering the habits of effective citizen engagement by promoting understanding of American civic society, especially democratic procedures, the rule of law, and civil rights/obligations under our Constitution.”
6) How does the CCR differ from the many public affairs centers around the country?
The Sweet Briar Center for Civic Renewal is unique in its emphasis on citizenship, civic culture, and law. While other institutions purport to foster political leadership, the CCR focuses on the other side of the equation-the role of citizens in a twenty-first century representative democracy. The emphasis at Sweet Briar is on reconnecting people to their polity, not merely by encouraging voter participation or grassroots political organization, but by instilling appreciation for the link between constitutional rights and civil obligations. To be sure, a byproduct of the Center is qualified civic leaders, but they will be leading engaged and informed citizens as a result of genuine civic renewal.
7) Who staffs the CCR?
The Center is currently staffed by Professor Barbara Perry (Director of the CCR), Professor Stephen Bragaw (Associate Director of the CCR and Director of the Law & Society Program), and Professor Tom Brister (Program Coordinator of the CCR).
8 ) What types of programs does the CCR sponsor?
The Center for Civic Renewal sponsors a major fall symposium that, starting in 2001, will coincide with Sweet Briar’s Alumnae Council Weekend. The title for the 2001 symposium on understanding the lessons of the 2000 presidential election is “271*: From Recounts to Renewal After ‘The Perfect Storm.’” Fall 2002′s symposium was entitled “Religion in the Public Square”, which examined the intriguing nature of church/state conflicts in our constitutional democracy. Each spring, beginning in 2002, the Center will promote understanding of legal/political issues through its “The Law and You Series.” Future “The Law and You” topics may include Sweet Briar’s historic links with the African-American community, women’s rights, bioethics, and student rights. The center also plans to host reporters on campus each spring through the CASE Media Fellowship Program, which sponsors journalists to participate in academic seminars on cutting-edge ideas and topics in law and society. This program would provide information on civic renewal to a crucial conduit of public education, namely, the media. In 2003 The Center for Civic Renewal will house the Center for Law & Civics Related Education for the Commonwealth of Virginia, which will serve as the entire state as the Virginia Law-Related Education Center.
9) How can I be a part of the CCR and keep up with its programs?
To support and share in the vision of the Center for Civic Renewal, interested persons could consider endowing the Center, its programs, scholarships, and facilities. All CCR programs are open to the public, and participants at symposia and conferences are warmly welcomed. Check the CCR Web site for archived video of previous conferences, as well as links to other organizations that promote civic engagement, both on the Sweet Briar campus and throughout the nation. Join our lists for updates on Center activities and upcoming newsletters.
10) How will the Center for Civic Renewal know if it is fulfilling its mission?
Monitoring student participation in the Law & Society Program and its courses, as well as CCR workshops and symposia, is the most obvious index of the Center’s success. In addition, student utilization of CCR scholarship funds, participation in public service internships, and civic engagement through future careers and voluntary activities are all indicators of the CCR’s influence. For broader audiences, the CCR will know it is providing high quality programs through audience evaluations, attraction of outside funding, and production of post-conference materials (such as educational curricula, Web-based information, CDs, and edited journals/books of conference papers).