NC Advancing Civic Engagement
Building a multigenerational, lifelong, and lifewide model of civic learning across North Carolina.
North Carolina Advancing Civic Engagement (NC ACE) is an interdisciplinary initiative of NC State University’s College of Education dedicated to advancing civic thought, constitutional studies, and American history through research, programming, and engagement with schools and communities. As one of four official Interdisciplinary Research Hubs established under the college’s 2023–2030 Strategic Plan, NC ACE brings together educators, students, faculty, public officials, community organizations, and higher education institutions to collaboratively explore and strengthen civic learning and participation.
NC ACE is grounded in the belief that civic education should be multigenerational, lifelong, and lifewide—occurring not only in schools but across communities, throughout a person’s life, and in multiple spaces of public learning and action. Grounded in the study of primary documents and the American political tradition, our work includes professional development for educators, public events like Dining with Democracy, and sustained partnerships with schools and communities to encourage engagement with foundational ideas, texts, and institutions of American constitutional government.
On April 15th, we launched NC ACE with A Day of Civic Learning. This engaging day was filled with in-depth panels, interactive discussions, and collaborative idea generation, scholars, educators, youth-serving professionals, public administrators, and community leaders who:
- Were introduced to research and innovative programs at North Carolina State University that are advancing civic learning.
- Explored the diverse and impactful work being done across North Carolina by youth organizations, community groups, educators, and more.
- Forged partnerships with like-minded individuals and organizations to identify opportunities for collaboration and expand the reach of your efforts.
- Gained fresh perspectives on and innovative approaches to civic learning.
Hub Leadership
Paula McAvoy, Associate Professor of Social Studies Education, Department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences
BIO
Paula McAvoy earned her PhD in philosophy of education in 2010 at UW-Madison’s Department of Educational Policy Studies. Since then, she has worked as an assistant professor at Illinois State, an associate program officer at the Spencer Foundation and as the Director of the Center for Ethics and Education at UW-Madison. Prior to this, she taught high school social studies for 10 years at the Foothill Middle College Program in Los Altos, California.
Dr. McAvoy is the PhD coordinator for the Social Studies Program Area of Study.
Her research focuses on philosophical and empirical questions concerning the relationship between schools and democratic society. She address two broad questions:
1. What educational aims and practices are most appropriate for preparing young people for living within a non-ideal democratic society (e.g. structural inequalities, political polarization)?
2. How should teachers and administrators make professional judgments about the dilemmas they face given non-ideal conditions? For example, what ethical challenges do teachers encounter when they engage students in discussions of controversial political issues?
Chad Hoggan, Professor of Adult & Lifelong Education, Department of Educational Leadership, Policy, and Human Development
BIO
Dr. Hoggan is a Professor in the Educational Leadership, Policy and Human Development Department. His research addresses transformative learning, or those experiences that dramatically affect how people experience, conceptualize, and interact with the world around them. He has studied transformative learning with a wide range of research participants, including postsecondary and graduate students, cancer survivors, military veterans, and migrants.
Since 2019, Dr. Hoggan has been extensively involved in research and engagement projects in Central and Eastern Europe, including research on the learning needs of migrants and the receiving society in the wake of the influx of refugees from Syria (2015) and Ukraine (2022). In 2019-2021, He has been a visiting professor at the Zentrum Flucht und Migration (Center for Flight and Migration) at the Katholische Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt University (Germany) and the Department of Psychology at the University of Padua (Italy). He is a founding member of the Deutsch-Ukrainischer Dialog association, which facilitates support for Ukrainian refugees in southern Germany, as well as the integration between refugees and the local community.
Emanating from this work with migrants and their host communities is a key contemporary focus of Dr. Hoggan’s work: civic learning in adulthood. An Editorial Board Member of the UNESCO Chair of Lifelong Learning in Kyiv, Ukraine, Dr. Hoggan delivers regular lectures on “Learning for Democracy” to four participating Ukrainian universities. He is also Co-director of the “Institute of Civic Studies and Learning for Democracy.”
Christy M. Byrd, Associate Professor of Developmental Sciences and Director of Graduate Programs, Department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences
BIO
Dr. Byrd’s research examines how positive school climates can bolster motivation, a sense of belonging, and academic success. In her outreach, she helps young people tell stories that inspire positive change in their communities through initiatives like #PassTheMicYouth and TEDxYouth@Chavis Way. Her efforts extend to organizing civic education events such as Dining with Democracy, which are designed to cultivate productive dialogue across diverse perspectives and encourage constructive engagement in democratic processes.
She received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Agnes Scott College and a PhD in education and psychology from the University of Michigan. She was also a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at Michigan State University. For fun, she plays, runs, and does research on escape rooms.