About Civic and Community Leadership

Representative of Ramapo College’s curricular tradition of cultivating student engagement in civic, local, state and international communities, the Civic and Community Leadership (CIVL) minor brings together coursework that engages students and graduates in the public work of building democracy.

As the founder and co-director of the Center for Democracy and Citizenship, author Harry C. Boyte’s scholarly work on civic engagement and higher education is foundational for reconceptualizing civic learning. He writes: “We need to move beyond narrow views of citizenship as voting and voluntarism, and reinvent citizenship as public work, work that explicitly and intentionally prepares our students (and ourselves) to be builders of democracy, not simply helpers, voters, analysts, informers or critics of democracy.”*

The selection of courses in the Ramapo College CIVL minor creates an opportunity for students to examine their potential for leadership within a number of domains, including interpersonal styles of leadership, ethical traditions, domestic and international politics, and social justice. Through the satisfactory completion of specific elective course offerings, students are able to situate this broad foundation within the field they wish to pursue.

*Democracy’s Education: Public Work, Citizenship, and the Future of Colleges and Universities (2015)