Each year, U.S. high schools participating in educational programs offered through the Close Up Foundation send students to Washington, D.C., to increase their knowledge of the democratic process and to build their citizenship skills. Now these students can enhance their experience — and earn college credit — by taking a companion undergraduate course offered through the Indiana University Independent Study Program.
The course, Learning through Engagement: Enriching Your Close Up Experience, provides students with an essential background of the U.S. political system, invites them to more carefully consider foreign and domestic policy issues, and prepares them to engage in meaningful and sophisticated discussions with the government officials they will meet in Washington.
Prior to the trip, the students write two position papers on domestic and foreign policy issues. During the trip, they keep a journal. And after they return from Washington, D.C., they submit an in-depth, reflective essay.
“We are pleased to offer this course to students participating in Close Up’s educational programs,” says spokesman Bruce Colton, director of the IU high school Independent Study Program. “It prepares students for their Close Up experience, helps them get the most value from the programs they attend while in our nation’s capital, and gives them the opportunity to earn college credit.”
The Indiana University Independent Study Program is a nationally recognized, award-winning program offering more than 300 distance education courses. All courses are available through correspondence, and more than 120 courses are available online. The Close Up Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan citizenship education organization.
For additional information on SCS G199 Learning through Engagement: Enriching Your Close Up Experience, contact Bruce Colston at 800.334.1011 or scs@indiana.edu. Learn more about the Close Up Foundation at http://www.closeup.org.
