Our Work

The Alabama Model of Student Health and Wellbeing is comprised of seven different dimensions to aid personal growth and maintain a healthy lifestyle: academic, career, physical, financial, psychological, social, and spiritual health. In this workshop, we add civic health to these vital areas of wellbeing. Participants will explore how we understand and use the phrase “civic” while also assessing their own individual civic health and exploring the concept of collective civic health.

It probably would have been easier for Paul Revere to let everyone know that the British were coming if he had had a TikTok account. Some of us may not get our news from a physical newspaper anymore much less rely on a town crier to gather information about current events like people did in the 1700s. Now, we have more access to instant information than ever before. With thousands of apps and various media platforms, navigating these online spaces to gather accurate information can be overwhelming. In this workshop, participants will be invited to review their media consumption habits, differentiate between types of information, and reflect on how we can better interact with the modern media landscape. 

We may have spent time in our lives learning to become better public speakers. Whether through taking a formal class, practicing presentations, or sharing remarks at a community event, public speaking is something we know we must practice in order to get better at it. We believe healthy civic life requires public speakers but it also requires many more public listeners! However, we probably don’t practice listening as often as we could or haven’t had a formal education in how to be a good listener. In this workshop, participants will identify common barriers to listening and explore ways to overcome those barriers so that we can become better listeners in all areas of our lives. 

In President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address, he famously said, “Ask not what your country can do for you–ask what you can do for your country.” Although we may have taken a government class at some point and set reminders to go vote on election day, we might not be waking up in the morning and immediately thinking about how to prepare ourselves for the many responsibilities of democratic citizenship. In this workshop, participants will differentiate between civic culture and political culture and explore ways we can create a healthy civic culture daily.

In the current politically polarized environment, we tend to assume that people who disagree cannot talk about their differences. This interactive workshop invites us to learn how we can start to change that dynamic in our professional and personal lives. Participants will reflect on their own communication styles and practice asking key dialogue-style questions to help us better share what is important to us and to understand the perspectives of others. Dialogue is not all talk and no action. When we use Dialogue A.C.T.S, we are taking civic action to maintain the relationships that sustain our community and our democracy.

Creating place-based community in the modern era is becoming increasingly difficult, and local civic engagement remains a crucial part of our social fabric. Engaging with our community, the people and organizations in our town, city, and neighborhoods represents the most direct connection we have to society. Whether we move to new communities countless times over the course of our lives or live just down the street from where we were born, learning to build community is key to living a healthy civic life. In this workshop,participants will explore key principles of building community and different strategies to maintain relationships in our communities so that we can develop prosperous civic places.

In an era marked by disruption, division, and constant change, it can be easy to feel discouraged about the future. We believe having hope isn’t just wishful thinking, it is a civic superpower. In this workshop, participants will explore what it means to treat hope not just as a feeling, but as the responsibility we have as citizens to build stronger communities and a more vibrant democracy. While hope alone won’t solve every problem, it is often what moves us to imagine something better and work together toward a common purpose.