College a new member of national civic-engagement organization

Sept. 14, 2015

Skidmore has accepted an invitation to join Project Pericles, a national organization of 28 colleges and universities committed to emphasizing social responsibility and participatory citizenship in their educational programs.

Project Pericles was founded in 2001 by philanthropist Eugene M. Lang to combat what he saw as a growing political cynicism and civic disengagement among young people. The organization works with its member institutions to develop model civic engagement programs in their classrooms, on their campuses, and in their communities. The goal is to prepare and encourage students to become active, responsible citizens.

“Skidmore is delighted to join Project Pericles, an organization whose mission closely aligns with the College’s highest institutional priorities,” said Skidmore President Philip A. Glotzbach. “Key goals of our current Strategic Plan encourage student engagement by emphasizing informed, responsible citizenship as well as intercultural and global understanding. Skidmore promotes civic engagement through numerous courses and an array of co-curricular programming, all of which link the campus to the community in active and meaningful ways.”

Beau Breslin, dean of faculty and vice president for academic affairs, said, “Skidmore’s faculty looks forward engaging with the community of practice that is Project Pericles.  We’re excited about collaborating with our fellow Periclean institutions to strengthen the democratic project and engaged liberal learning at Skidmore and in the nation as a whole.”

Breslin appointed Eric Morser, associate professor of history and faculty director of civic engagement, as Skidmore’s Project Pericles program director. Morser is an award-winning teacher who has worked extensively with public school teachers around the country. As part of his responsibility for helping to enhance the intentionality, creativity, and vision of Skidmore’s civic engagement activities, Morser will coordinate campus programming and serve as a liaison to the national Project Pericles office.

Skidmore’s commitment to civic engagement is stated in its Strategic Plan, which includes a goal to “prepare every Skidmore student to make the choices of an informed, responsible citizen at home and in the world.” Students at the College have a range of opportunities in this area, from courses that entail community-based research and service learning, to volunteer activities in the community and beyond, to citizenship projects organized by the Honors Forum and the First-Year Experience.

Skidmore’s curriculum offers robust opportunities for community-based research, defined as scholarship involving collaboration of faculty and/or students with community partners that is directed toward investigating, assessing, and addressing behavioral, social, educational, cultural, and environmental problems. Possibilities for this type of work range across virtually all departments.  They include, for example, examining local water issues with a focus on the discussions surrounding the search for a new drinking water source for the city of Saratoga Springs, and collaborating with the local senior center, the Mayor’s office, and an anti-poverty organization to complete community-wide needs assessments of seniors and people with low incomes.  Skidmore’s curriculum also includes some 65 service-learning courses—classes that integrate hands-on community service into the course content.

Skidmore’s student volunteers, working with the Office of Community Service Programs and the campus club Benef-Action, assist some 40 not-for-profit organizations each year, including the Saratoga Center for the Family, Special Olympics, Saratoga Mentoring, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and Shelters of Saratoga. Students also travel within and outside of the United States to engage in a variety of volunteer endeavors. The Office of Community Service Programs assists professor in creating partnerships with community agencies and also helps Honors Forum students with their required citizenship projects.