Periclean Voting Modules

​The Periclean Voting Modules are a set of curricular civic engagement resources for faculty, across all disciplines, who are interested in incorporating nonpartisan voter education into the curriculum. These modules were developed in collaboration with faculty members in Project Pericles Colleges and Universities and the Students Learn Students Vote (SLSV) Coalition. They represent a wide range of geographic regions and can be tailored for the fine arts, humanities, social sciences, and STEM. 

Grant Opportunity

Apply for the Civic and Voter Engagement Fellowship, a $1,000 award for faculty and staff to implement Periclean Civic Engagement Resources through a humanities lens in Spring- Fall 2024.​​

How to Vote

Teach students how to vote during class with this 5-10 minute long “How to Vote” presentation that educates students on how to register, to vote by mail and in person, and to research a ballot. You can also include a “Make a Plan Vote” Assignment where students must submit an outline of how they would cast a vote. Social science research suggests people are more likely to vote if they make a plan. This assignment still works for students who are ineligible to vote, as it is written hypothetically.

Why Voting Matters

For faculty who want to demonstrate the importance of voting, this section offers activities that help combat student skepticism about the power of voting. This module encourages students to explore and articulate their personal connection to voting, the concept of the “whole vote,” and the role of voting in democracy.​
The activities guide includes an outline of activities (each take 10-15 minutes) that can be used independently or in conjunction with each other and existing classes. Curricular options include a reflective discussion for small groups, a game that demonstrates voting power, and a brief review of U.S. voting rights.

Evaluation

​This is a sample evaluation for faculty to use with their students to evaluate the modules.

Additional Resources

General Voter Engagement Resources
  • All In to Vote: an all-in-one, nonpartisan, online resource that educates students on how to register, how to be prepared, and how to vote. Students take a pledge to vote and then follow the step-by-step guide to following through on their intention to cast a ballot.
  • Ballotpedia: digital encyclopedia of American politics and elections. Includes neutral, accurate, and verifiable information on government officials and the offices they hold, political issues and public policy, elections, candidates, and the influencers of politics. Resources include sample ballot look up tool.
  • BallotReady: aggregates information from candidates’ websites, social media, press, endorsers and board of elections data for the latest, most accurate details about the candidates and referendums on your ballot.
  • ​Campus Vote Project: state-specific guides to help students understand how to register and cast a ballot in their school or home community.
  • Election Protection: provides comprehensive information and assistance at all stages of voting – from registration, to absentee and early voting, to casting a vote at the polls, to overcoming obstacles to participation. 1-866-OURVOTE a hotline where volunteer lawyers and law students will assist you if there are problems at the polls.
  • League of Women Voters: Local chapters offer nonpartisan information and a hotline that will guide people through the voting process and answer any questions.
  • Power to the Polls: an initiative to recruit poll workers to ensure a safe, fair election for all voters. 
  • Pew Research Center-Political Typology Quiz: This quiz matches the user with a Political Typology group. The quiz is based on a nationally representative survey of more than 5,000 U.S. adults.
  • Register2Vote: Register2Vote aims to make it easy for anyone to confirm their registration and get registered to vote. They guide people through the registration process online or through the mail.
  • Rock the Vote: Resources geared toward young people including voter registration, voting rights, and election information. They have Voting Rights Resources like graphics to incorporate into presentations.
  • STEMocracy: researches STEM students' low voting rates to develop and implement methods that will transform these students into civic leaders.
  • StudentVote: a nonpartisan youth voter mobilization program launched by the Student PIRGs in partnership with Rock the Vote. 
  • The Love Vote: a platform for the 50 million Americans who can't vote (due to youth, citizenship, or disenfranchisement). They share stories and move others to vote on their behalf.
  • TurboVote: Register to vote, update your registration, and request an absentee ballot and sign up for reminders about important voting dates and deadlines! Some colleges have partnerships with TurboVote.
  • Vote.org: a nonpartisan voter registration and get-out-the-vote (GOTV) technology platform that uses technology to simplify political engagement, increase voter turnout, and strengthen American democracy. 
  • Vote Riders: provides practical assistance and information to ensure voters have the right kind of ID to vote in their state and a printable wallet-sized voter ID information card.
  • Vote with Me: This free app helps make the most impact in upcoming elections by helping users to see which friends need their reminder to vote. 
  • VOTE 411: Launched by the League of Women Voters Education Fund (LWVEF), VOTE 411 is a "one-stop-shop" for election related information. It provides nonpartisan information to the public with both general and state-specific election information.
  • With the People: is an initiative that encourages sustained practices of public deliberation on campuses and in communities across the country. They offer a Voting Issue Advisory which is designed to help students deliberate about what to do to keep the election system fair, honest, and secure. ​
Ask Every Student Toolkit
The Ask Every Student Toolkit provides resources for campuses to integrate meaningful, inclusive democratic engagement and voter registration into academics, student life, student leadership opportunities, and institutional partnerships. It is a comprehensive toolkit and growing resource of strategies, tools, and tactics that are designed to assist campus leaders in implementing full student voter registration strategies on their campuses. 

Resources from the Toolkit that are particularly useful for faculty include:
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  • Faculty Champions Guide: This is a toolkit for faculty to integrate democratic engagement activities into the classroom-both virtually and in-person. Ideas include:
    • Inviting a campus voting organization to give a presentation about voter registration to the class followed by Q&A breakout sessions.
    • Making weekly announcements with voter registration information and democratic engagement opportunities
  • Learning Management System Module: This is a template for faculty to create a module on their campus’ LMS (Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, etc.)  and ensure students have access to information and support for participating in the voting and democratic engagement processes. The module template includes:
    • Engaging in Democracy 101
    • Why is democratic participation important to you?
    • Registering to Vote and Voting by Mail in [Your State], and more
  • Class Visits Resources: Learn how to effectively utilize the classroom visit strategy to educate students on civic engagement and register them to vote if eligible. These resources include:
    • Civic Engagement Packet that students can fill out
    • Pledge Cards for students to fill out to pledge to vote and make a voting plan
    • Voting as a Student 101 Presentation
Faculty Network for Student Voting Rights
Scholars Strategy Network's A Faculty Guide to Student Voting in Your Classroom provides simplified guidance from the wide-ranging student voting resources on how faculty can include voter registration, education and civic learning into the classroom and in interactions with students. 

Want to engage with other faculty members around best practices for student voting? Scholars Strategy Network now has an initiative dedicated to student voting called the Faculty Network for Student Voting Rights that is run by faculty, for faculty. If you want to get involved, join the network.
Resources on Voting Statistics and Research
  • CIRCLE (The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement): provides post election information on youth participation categorized by race, gender, educational attainment, and political affiliation. 
  • ​NSLVE (National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement): offers colleges and universities an opportunity to learn their student registration and voting rates and, for interested campuses, a closer examination of their campus climate for political learning and engagement and correlations between specific student learning experiences and voting)
  • Ideas42 Behavioral Studies: Suggest that demystifying the process of registering and casting a vote can be an empowering experience for students and encourage them to vote. ​
  • Teaching Civic Engagement Across the Disciplines (2017), edited by Elizabeth C. Matto, Alison Rios Milltett McCartney, Elizabeth A. Bennion, and Dick Simpson, explains how campuses, across disciplines, can promote high quality education for civic engagement, providing a wealth of examples of successful practices, techniques, and assessment strategies.​
Voting Modules FAQ
Class time is time for teaching content. What are ways to incorporate this module with time constraints?
  • Explore activities that take 5-10 minutes. See our “Why Voting Matters” activities guide.
  • Take a few minutes to talk about voting. At the beginning or the end of the class, squeeze in one slide about how students can register/cast a vote.
  • Send a quick e-mail with resources. All In to Vote has a e-mail template on page 4 of their campus toolkit.
  • Turn it into extra credit assignment: Have students write a one-page reflection paper exploring a civic themed topic. Ideas include a reflection on their personal reasons to vote (see prompts listed in the “Why Voting Matters” section) or connecting class specific content to electoral engagement, as discussed in the “Deliberative Dialogue Discussion” modules (example: How could big data influence gerrymandering regulation? How is redistricting determined in this state?). Be sure to offer many options that include all students regardless of their voting eligibility.

How do I facilitate a potentially controversial discussion in class?
See “Deliberative Dialogue Facilitator Resources” for a resource list.

Can these modules be incorporated as a co-curricular or extracurricular activity?
Yes! While the modules were developed for and by faculty, they can be used as workshops, student club activities, etc. facilitated by students, community members, etc.

What may entice my colleagues to incorporate the modules, or civic dialogue more generally, into their classrooms?
This is a critical time for our democracy and it is particularly vital that our students understand their role in making a difference in society, which begins with voting. In the Election Imperatives document released by the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education in 2020, three recommendations are to "carve out classroom time to teach students how to vote," "build and maintain community and social cohesion within your classroom and department," and "teach the policy questions for each field. Each discipline has public relevance." Allocating just 15 minutes to civil dialogue in class can make a huge difference.

Additionally, in August 2009, Project Pericles published a white paper addressing this topic: “Civic Engagement in the Classroom: Strategies for Incorporating Education for Civic and Social Responsibility in the Undergraduate Classroom” by Ariane Liazos and Jan R. Liss. This CEC White Paper shares the learnings from the Civic Engagement Course (CEC) program™ and serves as a guide for incorporating civic engagement into higher education curricula. It focuses on specific pedagogical strategies employed by the faculty to integrate education for civic and social responsibility into their courses, as well as the unique challenges of civic education. The White Paper includes a description of the methodology used; knowledge gained from the CEC program and guidance on transferability to other institutions and disciplines; Best practices that can be applied on a wide range of campuses; and an extensive bibliography.

add Periclean civic engagement resources to your drive.

You can also access all of Project Pericles' original civic engagement resources on Google Drive. When downloading the Google Drive folder, all files will be saved in Microsoft Office friendly formats, such as Word Documents and Powerpoint presentations. 
This project is supported by the Eugene M. Lang Foundation and the Mellon Foundation, with additional support from The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, the Teagle Foundation, the SLSV Coalition, and Up to Us/Net Impact. Special thanks to collaborators: Periclean Faculty Leaders, Project Pericles Program Directors, Faculty Fellows, and members of the SLSV Coalition.
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​​Please contact arielle@projectpericles.org if you have any questions or suggestions about our civic engagement resources.