ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an existing professional writing course to include an emphasis on teaching for political engagement through service-learning. Students in the course had to produce a significant document for a local agency or organization with a political or policy-making bent. However, a disconcerting and unexpected trend also emerged—many students did not perceive their service-learning for political engagement projects as a political act. ‘While many college teachers consider political engagement to be the zenith of democratic ideals, for many students political is a bankrupt word and concept. ‘Andrew’’ and ‘‘Kristin’’ are examples of bright students who resisted seeing their work on the class projects as political engagement. Free from the constraints of grades and project timelines, the interviews allowed space for some students to reconsider and finally grasp the political dimensions of their writing. Interviews can serve as a rich site for generative reflection by students and faculty alike.
