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Civil Rights Civil Virtue Logo
AUM Presents the

Civil Rights and Civic Virtue Society

The mission of the Auburn University at Montgomery Civil Rights & Civic Virtue Society is to foster civic identity, commitment, and civic-mindedness through community-engaged learning experiences.

Our aim is to determine whether increases in virtue literacy, civil rights literacy, and community engagement leads to growth in civic virtue. This project addresses important needs within our university and local community by facilitating meaningful community-engaged learning experiences and deepening our capacity to act as partner in addressing the ongoing impacts of historic injustice within a city known as the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement. We begin with the creation of a Civil Rights and Civic Virtue Society for students, faculty, staff, and a community advisory board. The society will develop and implement curricular and co-curricular learning opportunities that situate the study of civic virtues within an exploration of local civil rights history. It will create curriculum for an annual summer seminar, society communities of practice, and first-year seminar experiences. It will secure community service opportunities for students and faculty. It will organize events featuring scholars and civil rights exemplars. It will host an annual conference for to advance knowledge of civil rights and civic virtues and for members to share from their learning. The society will create a website exhibiting our activities and recordings of events hosted throughout the year. These efforts will enable us to address two big questions: Does participation in a community of practice increase engagement in civic activities and generate reflective insights about civic identity and commitment? and Do civil rights centered, character-focused curricula and pedagogies increase virtue literacy and civil rights literacy? This project will strengthen our university’s role as a community partner and advance knowledge about the promises of character education initiatives in higher education.

The program is possible through a grant from the John Templeton Foundation.

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A Person Standing Posing For The Camera
A Woman Sitting At A Table Looking At A Laptop
A Man Wearing A Suit And Tie
Civil Rights Civic Virtue Society

Upcoming Events

Civil Rights Civic Virtue Society

A Year in Review - 2022-2023

The primary aim of this grant is to create programming that can foster civic identity, commitment, and civic virtues through a deepened understanding of the Civil Rights movement and its leaders and through civic engagement with projects and partners in our local community of Montgomery, Alabama, often called the birthplace of the Civil Rights movement. In this first year of funding, our grant has enabled us to support faculty in the development of pedagogical and curricular efforts, to host speakers whose lives are examples of civic virtue in action, and to support civic engagement opportunities through field trips, excursions, and service-learning opportunities. We are excited about the ways this grant will continue to contribute to AUM’s distinctive mission, vision, and core values. The following booklets highlights some of the key achievements within this first year of grant funding.

Civil Rights Civic Virtue Society

Past Speakers

Developing Civic-Minded Graduates through Community-Engaged Teaching, Research, and Service.

Dr. Julie Hatcher

Intellectual Virtue & Civic Education

Dr. Jason Baehr

Your Voice Matters

Reverend Richard Williams

Martin Luther King, Jr., Legacy Breakfast

Judge Calvin Williams

Our Historical Moment

Mr. Steve Murray

America's Trauma and Montgomery Promise

Mr. Jonathan Avant

Pot Pies, Jackie Gleason, Me-ma, and Saturday Nights

Mrs. Jannah Bailey

Design for Impact

L'Rai Arthur-Mensah

Marching through the Flame

Henry Allen, Jr.

Juneteenth: A Trajectory from Then Until Now

Georgette Norman

Fighting for Freedom Rights in Lowndes County, AL.

Dr. Hasan Kwame Jeffries

Hope as a Democratic Civic Virtue.

Dr. Nancy Snow

The Ways of Wisdom in the Quest for Justice.

Dr. Bradley Burroughs

Empathy as a Propaedeutic to Justice.

Dr. Sabrina Little

Building a Chain

Pastor Ken Austin, Executive Director of Mercy House/MAP
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