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activities and events.

About Civic Participation Events

Projects, activities, initiatives and coursework most reflective of the Civic Participation Project will:

  • be officially sponsored or sanctioned by the University of Nebraska at Omaha;
  • involve significant undergraduate student participation;
  • engage the local, regional or national communities;
  • promote the quality of life in those communities by working to make a difference utilizing a combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation, pursuant to the national American Democracy Project initiative.

Deliberative Polling Initiative

The University of Nebraska at Omaha was one of 15 institutions of higher education selected to participate in the AASCU Deliberative Polling Initiative in 2007-2008. As part of this initiative, Dr. Greg Petrow, Assistant Professor of Political Science, will be attending the Deliberative Polling Institute at Stanford University in September 2007. Dr. Petrow, working with our Civic Participation Project team, will organize and conduct a Deliberative Polling event for the campus in Spring 2008. The event will be designed to increase campus understanding and informed opinion about a significant public policy issue. The results will be reported at the annual AASCU-American Democracy Project summer conference in June 2008. For more information, visit this page.

Newspapers in Curricula (NiC)

The purpose of the NiC program is to support the newspapers-on-campus initiative which started at UNO this fall semester 2007 by developing curricula which utilizes those newspapers in the classroom. Students have access to three papers on a daily basis: The New York Times, The Omaha World Herald, and USA Today. Funding for the papers is provided by student fees. The university is committed to civic engagement and writing across the curriculum. Newspapers are an excellent tool for faculty and students in developing civic engagement. In order to promote faculty and student use of the newspapers in the classroom, the university is sponsoring a faculty group to design newspaper-based assignments and explore the influence of the newspaper in the classroom on student behavior and attitudes. A core group has been selected across disciplines to design and promote newspaper-based curricula with the goal of producing shared documents for the university community:

  • Rachel Roiblatt, Social Work
  • Christina Dando, Geography and Geology
  • Barbara Hewens- Maroney, Goodrich
  • Peter Szto, Social Work
  • Jerilyn Hynes Kamm, Communication
  • Marlina Davidson, Communications
  • Carla Garay, Sociology
  • Jody Neathery Castro, Political science
  • Maria Arbaleaz, History
  • Kathy Radosta, English
  • Maria Anderson Knudtson, English

On April 3,2008, the NiC program sponsored a campus conversation about current events (see photo gallery).

Constitution Week activities

September 13-17, 2010

The University of Nebraska at Omaha observed Constitution Week the week of September 17, 2007. Visit our photo gallery from the week's events.

Thompson Forum series to be simulcasted

As part of the Civic Participation Project, UNO is once again partnering with the Nebraska Humanities Council to simulcast the Thompson Forum speaker series, which focuses this year on issues related to the global environment. The speakers and dates are listed below.

On Thursday, September 30, 2010, journalist E. Benjamin Skinner presented “A Crime So Monstrous: Face to Face with Modern Day Slavery” at Chancellor's Room, MBSC - 7:00 p.m.

On Thursday, October 14, 2010, Christine Todd Whitman, president of the Whitman Strategy Group and co-chair of the Republican Leadership Council, will discuss "Staying Ahead While Going Green" in the Collaborating Common's Room, CPACS - 7:30 p.m.

On Wednesday, November 10, 2010, Senator Chuck Hagel and the Chinese Ambassador will present "China Rising: Good News or Bads News for U.S. Workers, Consumers, and Investors?" in the Collaborating Commons Room, CPACS - 7:00 p.m.

On Wednesday, February 23, 2011, Mark Danner writer and reporter will discuss "Torture, Obama, and the Us: The Moral Costs of War on Terror" in the Chancellor's Room, MBSC - 7:00 p.m.

On Wednesday, March 9, 2011, Laurie Garrett an American authority on healthcare and an award winning reporter will present “Betrayel of Trust: Crtical Issues In Global Health Care,” which will be located in the Chancellor's Room, MBSC at 7:00 p.m.

On Tuesday, April 12, 2011, Pietra Rivoli, professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University will discuss “Who's Afraid of International Trade?” in the Chancellor's Room, MBSC at 7:00 p.m.

The university community and the general public are invited to attend free of charge.