2025 American Democracy Project Summit Call for Proposals

Submit proposals by March 18.
Meeting theme

Full Participation

AASCU invites submissions to present at the American Democracy Project Summit, happening July 13-14, 2025 in Indianapolis, IN. We seek a diversity of perspectives and experiences, and we especially encourage presentations that include students and feature teams. 

Democracy can be frustrating, slow, and contentious. Often, the civic engagement work done on a campus can feel isolated and be un- or under-appreciated. This meeting will change that narrative by showcasing that, through AASCU’s American Democracy Project, there are resources and a community that exists to help build and grow civic engagement within higher education. 

Meeting details.
Proposal formats  

Topical Sessions (45-minute sessions): Presentations, which could be led by an individual or a group, designed to share best practices and/or facilitate conversations about the practical application of civic and community engagement projects. If accepted, you may be paired with another concurrent session to share the 45-minute time block.

Ignite Talks (5-minute sessions): Designed for individuals to share compelling, innovative practices on a large stage, ignite talks use 20 slides that automatically advance every 15 seconds and requires speakers to be concise, prepared, and dynamic. 

Poster Sessions: Textual and graphical presentations of civic engagement projects or research. 

Proposal topics

We recognize how interconnected the field of civic engagement is. This topic selection allows us to maintain a diverse portfolio of options.

What are the key features of the thriving democracy we hope to enact and support through our work?  

  • Navigating legislative challenges 
  • Incorporating and supporting student voice 
  • Redefining political engagement 
  • Incorporating diverse voices in our work 
  • Higher education’s democratic responsibility 
  • Honoring community voices and wisdom—especially for indigenous-serving institutions 
  • Exploring/understanding foundational, democratic documents and their relationship to current affairs 
  • Understanding interrelated concepts of civic engagement, democratic engagement, civic learning service learning, activism, and advocacy 

What knowledge, skills, and dispositions contribute to a thriving democracy, and how do we embed this in our work?  

  • Voter engagement work and results 
  • Increasing civic engagement beyond social sciences; encouraging interdisciplinary efforts 
  • Practicing/modeling difficult conversations/dialogues 
  • Digitial literacy 
  • Bringing curricular and co-curricular efforts together 
  • High impact practices 
  • Experiential learning 
  • AI possibilities 
  • Address the colonization of our educational system 

How can we build the institutional culture, infrastructure, and relationships needed to support learning that enables a thriving democracy? 

  • Institution-wide collaboration and building campus stakeholders 
  • Collaborating with other campuses 
  • Building leadership supports for civic engagement 
  • Aligning institutional mission/values with civic engagement 
  • Integrating campus and community efforts 
  • Building regional support structures 
  • Understanding different campus models for student engagement 
  • Implement and assess institution-wide civic learning objectives 

The 2025 call for proposals has ended.