Community Engagement and Civic Learning (CECL)

A Mason Impact + CECiL experience provides students with the opportunity to make connections between multi-disciplinary knowledge and community change, to understand their role as citizens of the world, and to act to address challenging global problems in partnership with the community.  

In an MI + CECiL experience students should engage in: 

• Application of theory, skills, or knowledge into community contexts 
• Exploration of ways of working towards social change 
• Place and issue education to understand community and root causes  
• Critical reflection on their community engaged experience 

Student projects in an MI + CECiL course or co-curricular experience may come in many forms, some example project types include: 

• Community engaged learning and research projects 
• Capacity building efforts like volunteer management, program development, curriculum development, fundraising, and communication projects 
• Community organizing, activism, and advocacy efforts 
• Participation in political processes, policy making, and public governance 

The learning outcomes for a MI + CECiL course:

1. Understand knowledge creation: Students will understand how knowledge is generated and communicated, and how it can be used to address questions or problems in disciplines and in society.
2. Engage multiple perspectives: Students will be able to identify and negotiate multiple perspectives, work collaboratively within and across multiple social and environmental contexts, and engage ethically with their subject and with others.
3. Investigate a meaningful question: Students will use inquiry skills to articulate a question; engage in an inquiry process; and situate the concepts, practices, or results within a broader context.
4. Complete a project: Students will design and carry out an individual or collaborative project that explores an original question, seeks a creative solution to a problem, applies knowledge to a professional challenge, or offers a unique perspective. Students engage deeply in this original work.
5. Communicate and share outcomes: Students will communicate knowledge from their project through presentation, publication, or performance to an audience beyond the classroom.

For more information about Civic Engagement and Civic Learning at George Mason University please visit The Office of Community Engagement and Civic Learning.