Michelle Catalano

Michelle Catalano is an Instructor in the Department of Philosophy at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Her critical thinking courses ask students to analyze and take active sides on controversial issues.

 

1. Which of your courses get students out of the classroom? What project(s) do your students do?

My students venture out of the classroom in a praxis version of Reasoning and Argumentation 101—our required critical/logical thinking course. The praxis version goes beyond standard critical/logical thinking course objectives by incorporating practices of 1) transforming theories into actions, 2) supporting arguments in public spaces, and 3) interpreting the implications of advancing conclusions in the real world. To achieve these objectives, I assign a semester-long project based on a series of journal assignments that culminate with a community engagement action. Students begin by identifying a debatable topic or controversial issue of concern. After that, they explore reliable sources and formulate a position on one side of their issue. Next, they analyze and evaluate editorial articles and documentary films on their topic. Following this, they begin their civic involvement by signing a relevant petition/pledge that advances their position or by communicating their position to at least one of their elected representatives. By the end of the semester, as they progress from more passive to more active initiatives, they select and implement some form of community engagement to push forth their stance. My students have chosen to be active in various ways, such as through volunteering, conducting interviews, donating, raising awareness, distributing informational materials, participating in events, attending demonstrations, and more. On the last day of class, they post their activity on a public praxis wall for the campus community to see (and which is open for anyone else to add their own contribution if they wish).

 

2. Give an example of a successful project.

There are soooo many great examples—but I will limit myself to just a few! My students have a high degree of freedom to self-select issues based on their own personal passions and interests; even within one class I see an incredible diversity of projects. Some students select a side on national debates such as universal vaccination, abortion, or gun control, while others choose to advocate for something they consider an injustice or a systemic problem. It is interesting to see how much the topics change from semester to semester based on what is happening in current events or on what is trending in the media. I also enjoy seeing the occasional hyper-local controversy that is taking place within a small geographic area such as a particular town or even on our own campus. Recently, “positive body image” has been a popular focus: projects have included promoting hashtags such as #AerieREAL, analyzing the Embrace documentary, and organizing a makeup-free day. Many students take a position supporting the legalization of recreational marijuana, and they’ve taken actions such as analyzing the Culture High documentary, contributing to NORML, and finding a Change.org petition to sign. Another common topic involves mental health issues such as increasing suicide prevention support in schools and raising awareness about the importance of destigmatizing mental illness; actions on these topics have included interviewing teachers about their experience with youth mental health issues and their perspective on solutions, handing out suicide prevention resource cards on campus, and more.

 

3. What do you think students gain from doing this civic engagement?

I hope my students realize that their actions are not futile and that they make an impact in their world and the people around them. Students’ self-assessments in the final journal of this project are typically positive. Many report that what they did was meaningful, that they learned both smaller and bigger ways to make a difference, and that it gave them prospects for involvement with issues they care about in the future. When I first started assigning this project, I worried that some students might complain about the time spent outside the classroom because of their work/other commitments beyond school. However, when I trusted them and turned it over to them, they stepped up and exceeded my expectations. I also worried at first that some students would strongly resist the idea of being active, given the traditional mode of education they are accustomed to. But my students seem to enjoy glimpsing a new, reformed vision of what education can be like. I hope they realize that being a student can (and should?) be much more than sitting at a desk, and that teaching can (and should?) be much more than lecturing. There has historically been a huge disconnect between the analytic and formal way we teach logic/reasoning and the real-world usefulness of logic/reasoning. I think with engagement activities, we can start showing our students how to translate the information and theories from our textbooks into functional and applied problem-solving.

 

4. What does the civic engagement project offer to wider communities?

Besides the specific community engagement projects that I’ve described above, each class makes a donation (with my money on their behalf) to one nonprofit organization. The process includes watching the documentary Poverty, Inc. and carefully deliberating the notion of charity giving. Small groups then pick charities that align with their own project topics. After everyone has an opportunity to research the top contenders, the winning organization is selected by a class-wide vote. Sometimes it’s a local charity, sometimes it’s not…either way, a tangible contribution to a nonprofit organization is made.

 

5. Why do you choose to ask students to do civic engagement projects?

It’s satisfying to me as a teacher when I am creative and trying new things in the classroom. I think it is beneficial for teachers to experiment to find what works best for each of us given our personalities and our student populations.

I also ask students to do engagement because I frame what we do as a pathway to more social activism. Some criticisms of civic engagement say that we are “moralizing” when we push our students into activism, but I think choosing to do nothing is equally a moralization—and my students have the freedom to defend whatever position that they want to fight for. I’m just providing that space (and guidance) for them to explore whatever they want to argue for or against. The only thing about utilizing engagement that disheartens me is student apathy. It’s discouraging that there are always some students who just don’t care about it or just don’t want to make any kind of difference at all. I try hard to ignite their interest and encourage them to identify something they can be fervent about, but I have to realize that I will not be able to reach everyone.

Last, I ask my students to do engagement projects so that philosophy is seen as modern and practical. Since we have a reputation for being abstract and solitary compared to the other disciplines, it gives us a little credibility to be able to say, “Look, we can do this kind of stuff in our philosophy courses, too!”

 

6. What do you think is the biggest mistake you have made doing this work?

Not doing it sooner! For most of my early career, I was wedded to the lecture mode of teaching. I’m not exactly sure why I didn’t branch out sooner, but maybe it was some mixture of conformity, fear of change, and lack of time for innovation. Once I started to experiment with more interactive approaches, it turned out that they are always learning experiences for me—and I’m almost always happy with the results.

I also would like a space on campus to serve as a “free speech wall,” where students could post information without barriers in order to raise awareness about the issues that matter to them. Prior to assigning these sorts of projects, it didn’t occur to me that my students would face restrictions on campus with where and how they could spread their ideas.

 

7. How does your civic engagement work inspire you?

I’ve been starting to implement my own public initiatives and do my own community engagement on promoting philosophy as an important part of the K-12 and collegiate education curricula. My outreach has included reading philosophy books for children at the local elementary schools, serving on committees for local organizations, and running a Study Philosophy page on Instagram. The point of my own civic involvement is to show that philosophers have valuable skills that we can contribute to society, and to increase the visibility and name recognition of our discipline. Even if we don’t have the time, desire, or research orientation to publish in high-profile forums, we philosophy teachers can do plenty of worthwhile things to reach the public. Plus, it’s fun!

 

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