Socrates to Snapchat | Freedom and Citizenship

Freedom and Citizenship

Origins

Founded in 2009, Freedom & Citizenship has brought college preparedness, civic engagement, and an introduction to humanities to 222 New York City high school students.

Goals

•Introduce young students to engaging, relevant work in the humanities with ancient to contemporary texts.

•Develop student interest in civic participation and increase confidence in their ability to affect change.

•Cement teachings of Freedom & Citizenship in recent alumni with chance to teach to younger generation.

•Build and share replicable models for teaching political philosophy and civics that other educators may utilize.

Program Structure

Socrates to Snapchat will run for four days, July 31 - August 4, 9:30am to 5:30pm with 10-15 students entering grades 7, 8, or 9

Typical Day:

Time: 9:30 - 10:00
Activity: Breakfast, "ask a college student"

Time: 10:00 - 11:30
Activity: Text study -- group reading and seminar style discussion

Time: 11:30 - 12:45
Activity: Lunch, organized games, exploring Columbia's campus

Time: 12:45 - 2:00
Activity: Mock Government -- students are presented with an historic problem and try to come to a solution

Time: 2:00 - 4:00
Activity: Civic Engagement Practice --students learn about a current topic and practice research and advocacy skills in computer labs with TAs

Time: 4:00 - 5:30
Activity: Special programming -- i.e. panel of alumni speaking about their careers, movie screening, etc.