The class will meet for four weeks on Thursday evenings from 7-8:30pm in Classroom B, beginning on September 3rd, and will be taugh by Rev. Rob Mueller and Professor Stefan Haag.

This is a course on citizenship. Citizenship is both a legal status and a set of privileges and responsibilities. We will focus on the second status. The US Constitution’s preamble begins with “We the People of the United States,” which establishes a Republic, composed of “citizens” rather than “subjects,” who are loyal and subservient to a monarch or ruling group. In exploring citizenship, the class will examine three components of the spectrum that constitutes citizenship: Head for becoming savvy, Heart for friendship in the community, and hands for achieving freedom. After the introductory session, each session will be devoted to one of the components of citizenship. The course will include lectures, class discussions, and group discussions. Class members will be expected to participate vigorously and respectfully. There will be disagreements. We will listen earnestly to opinions, offer our opinions, and search for solutions that promote everyone’s interests.

The purpose of this course is to create active, engaged, and respectful citizens. As Baratunde Thurston asserts in his podcast, citizen is a verb. Class members will learn how to citizen.

Bio of Stefan Haag

Stefan is a Professor Emeritus of Government, Austin Community College (ACC). He taught US Government and Texas Government at ACC from 1979 to 2020. He coauthored a textbook on Texas politics and government for the required Texas Government course at Texas public colleges and universities. He also authored reports for ACC’s Center for Public Policy and Political Studies (CPPPS) on voter turnout and straight-ticket voting. Prior to ACC, he taught sociology and political science courses at Kaskaskia College in Centralia, Illinois from 1970 to 1978.