CIVIC ENGAGEMENT & EDUCATION
Reaching tomorrow's leaders in new and engaging ways
The Dole Institute is proud to be a leader in educating students, educators, and professionals on the importance of being civically engaged in your community. Through providing resources, leading campus voter registration drives, and more, we encourage civil discourse and civic participation in a bipartisan, balanced manner. Be a leader in your community by registering and making a plan to vote. Learn how you can do so in your state by visiting vote.gov at the link below.
Understanding Civic Engagement
Explore a new series of short-form videos explaining to younger Americans how they can be an active participant in our democratic process. Each video features highlights from Douglas County, KS Clerk Jamie Shew’s recent keynote address at the 2024 Civic Engagement and Leadership Conference—a multi-day conference for history, government, and civics teachers in Kansas. These videos joins the plethora of educational resources offered by the Dole Institute that helps educators enrich their curriculum.
Explore the video collection on our YouTube Channel and learn about how you can Be #VoteReady by learning about how you can exercise your right to vote in your local community.
Civic Engagement and Leadership at KU
The Dole Institute exemplifies academic entrepreneurship with an emphasis on civic education. Many of the Institute’s initiatives build on an active and vibrant student culture, promoting political and civic involvement while encouraging civil discourse on important issues.
Learn how we engage students at the University of Kansas through our month-long Civic Engagement and Leadership Initiative, which includes an annual commemoration of Constitution Day.
Educational Programming & Resources
The Dole Institute’s Public Education team has created multiple lessons, workshops, and instructional materials for you to utilize in your curriculum. All of these resources draw upon the vast collections of primary resources housed at the Robert and Elizabeth Dole Archives and Special Collections.
Institutes & Conferences
Throughout the year, the Dole Institute welcomes students and educators from throughout the state of Kansas for engaging civic engagement enrichment opportunities. This includes our flagship Youth Civic Leadership Institute, which brings rising high school seniors to Lawrence for a three-day session to broaden their understanding of what it means to be a participant in our democratic system.
The Dole Institute is committed to universal accessibility in all programs and resources. We are in the process of making all of our web projects fully accessible. An accessible version of the material represented on this site will be made available upon request. Please contact us at doleinstitute@ku.edu to request the material be made available in an accessible format, or for general assistance.