A Think Tank on Social Innovation and Civic Engagement

Date: October 26, 2015
Location: Live Stream

Washington University in St. Louis and Duke University are sponsoring a think tank focused on the relationship between social innovation and civic engagement in higher education, hosted on the Washington University Danforth campus.

This convening emerges from the arguments made by Amanda Moore McBride and Eric Mlyn in their February 2015 article in the Chronicle of Higher Education regarding the role of civic engagement in any social change effort, including social innovation. The response to the article was supportive from both scholars and practitioners of social innovation and civic engagement, yet all asked how can higher education better knit the two approaches together. This think tank is a response to that call.

The program for the proceedings provides insights about the speakers, attendees, and the topic at hand.
View the program

Live Stream the Event on October 26

Co-Sponsor Campus Compact will live stream Think Tank proceedings from 8:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

This think tank will explore:

Social, economic, and political issues driving the ascendency of these two approaches
The status of social innovation and civic engagement in higher education
The unique roles of the public and private sector in driving these approaches and what contributions they would to see from higher education
Ways forward that train the next generation of social change leaders

A think tank is different from a conference or a symposium. It convenes those who are experts on various dimensions of an issue to discuss, debate, and assert a way forward. Convened for this think tank are scholars, administrators, innovators, investors, and students. The premium is on their exchange. It is hoped that the think tank inspires and informs how we teach social change, respectively strengthening the social innovation and civic engagement movements in higher education.

This think tank would not be possible without co-sponsors, including Washington University’s George Warren Brown School of Social Work, the Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and the Center for Social Development. Campus Compact is also co-sponsoring the think tank, broadcasting it as a webinar that is free and open to the public. Think tank themes and conclusions will inform planning for the 2016 Ashoka U Changemaker Conference, and select presentations may be included in an issue of Diversity & Democracy, published by the Association of American Colleges and Universities.