A proposal from Mike Reynolds (Professor in English & Communication Studies) has been awarded a Civic and Voter Engagement Fellowship from Project Pericles. With the associated grant, and through collaboration with its associated network of faculty and resources in the Project's consortium, Reynolds will enhance lessons, partnerships, and projects centered on the Hamline-Midway neighborhood in his first-year writing courses in 2024-2025.
The award is grounded in the relationship between liberal arts education and citizenship. In particular, Project Pericles seeks to connect the Humanities to effective community-centered deliberative dialogue. Students, in conversation with community members and organizations, will research topics such as renters' rights, Rethinking I-94, public safety, the impact of Allianz Stadium, the many challenges and opportunities along Snelling Avenue, and sustainable economic development. The class will define how core methods in the Humanities (for creative inquiry, critical reading, and effective communication) are vital tools for civic action. In the longer term, Reynolds hopes to evaluate how this initial first year experience may facilitate stronger participation by students in the Midway and broader Saint Paul community while studying at Hamline and in lifelong citizenship after graduation.
Reynolds has been active in the Midway community since arriving at the University, supporting projects in public arts, in the Hamline to Hamline Collaboration with our neighboring Elementary school, as a Board and committee member with the neighborhood's district council (the Hamline Midway Coalition or HMC), and over a decade ago as a board member for the Leadership in Service to the Neighborhood (or LISN) grant collaboration between Hamline University and HMC.
