Civic X Syllabus

Before You Begin

Prerequisites to Forging Civic X Partnerships

Civic Research 101

What is Civic Research?

Key Media	Helpful Tools	Key Resources	Networks to Know	Conferences	University-Based Capstone/Field Project Classes	Funding
King 1968: The Role of the Behavioral Scientist in the Civil Rights Movement		Arnold Ventures: Social Programs That Work	Scholars Strategy Network	UCSC/URBAN All-In Conference	HBS/HKS Community Action Project
Matias 2016: The Obligation to Experiment		500 Women Scientists Gage Database	research 4 impact	Advancing Research Impact in Society (ARIS)		Interdisciplinary Research Leaders
Jackson & Marques 2019: DIY Do’s and Don’ts: Limitations to Building University-Community Partnerships with Low Resources Communities of Color		500 Women Scientists Fellowship for the Future	500 Women Scientists	Federation for the Humanities and the Social Sciences (Canada) Congress		APSA Institute for Civically Engaged Research
Maxim + Muro 2021: Supporting distressed communities by strengthening regional public universities: A federal policy proposal		NIEHS-funded projects, such as: West End Revitalization Association: Demonstrating the Value of Community-led Research to Address Environmental Justice Issues	Results First Peer Learning Network (state govs)	Society for the Study of Social Problems		The Constellation Prize
UC Santa Cruz Institute for Social Transformation 2021: Transforming Universities for Community Engaged Scholarship			PIT-UN	Urban Affairs		Tufts CTSI Pilot Studies Program
			Campus Compact	APPAM
			MetroLab Network	MetroLab Network Summit
			CityStudio
			Engineers and Scientists Acting Locally (ESAL)
			re-Engineered
			AESIS
			Science for the People
			Union of Concerned Scientists: The Team-Based Organizing Initiative
			CUMU

Civic Data 101

What is Civic Data?

Key Media	Helpful Tools	Key Resources	Networks to Know	Conferences	Funding
Steif 2021: Public Policy Analytics: Code & Context for Data Science in Government		data.org: Resource Library	Data Science for Social Good: UW	Opportunity Project Summit	Coleridge Initiative: Democratizing our Data: A Challenge to Invest in Data and Evidence-based Policy
Beaudoin 2021: Op-ed: Every city government says they want to be data-driven. But not that many cities do it right.		GESIS: Data Search	Data 4 Black Lives	Data for Policy
Urban Institute 2021: The Future for Community Use of Data to Advance Equity		Englert 2018: Lessons from Grassroots Data Projects in the USA	State of Place Urban Data Geeks Lab	Data 4 Black Lives Conference
Bouk et al. 2022: A Primer on Powerful Numbers: Selected Readings in the Social Study of Public Data and Official Numbers		Harvard Ash Center Data-Smart City Solutions Solutions Search	Data You Can Use	Aspen Cyber Summit
Jackson 2022: What If There’s a Better Way to Collect Neighborhood Data?		Microsoft Data for Society		Vycki Englert’s running list of conferences

Civic Technology 101

What is Civic Technology?

Key Media	Helpful Tools	Key Resources	Networks to Know	Conferences	Funding	Pitch Competitions, Incubators, + Accelerators
Rebecca Williams: Civic Tech Studies	New_Public 2022: The Signals	Civic Futures Thesis Group 2019: Robot Survey 2019	Technologists for the Public Good	SXSW	The Constellation Prize	Urban-X
Tauberer 2015: So you want to reform democracy		Cornell Tech 2021: Rebooting NYC	Civic Tech Book Club	Black Tech Policy Week		dcode
MoreThanCode 2018: Practitioners reimagine the landscape of technology for justice and equity		Responsible Tech Job Board	New_ Public by Civic Signals	Code for America Summit		in-q-tel
Ahmed et al. 2019: Some Thoughts…		Civic Tech Jobs (NYC)	Democracy Lab	A Better Tech Conference		US SBA SBIR/STTR
O’Neil 2019: Preface to the CUT Group Book Third Edition		Civic Jobs (SF)	PIT-UN	Vycki Englert’s running list of conferences		US HHS BARDA Ventures
Moretti 2019: Technology is not a product, it’s a system		Code for America: Public Interest Tech Job Board	All Tech is Human
AAAS 2020: Our Common Purpose – Strategy 5: Build Civic Information Architecture that Supports Common Purpose		TechCongress: Policy Opportunities for Technologists	Code for America Code for America: National Day of Civic Hacking			VentureWell
Zuckerman 2020: The Case for Digital Public Infrastructure		FUSE Corps	Code for All
Dunbar-Hester 2020: Not entirely analog(ous): Low-power FM radio as community, relations and knowledge in context		U.S. Digital Corps	Digital Services Coalition
Cornell Tech 2021: Rebooting NYC		Blue Ridge Labs Fellowship	Engineers and Scientists Acting Locally (ESAL)
Boots 2021: A bleak outlook for public sector tech		Hunt: Civic Tech Webring	re-Engineered
Georgetown 2022: A People-First Approach: Improving Government Customer Experience Through Technology		Civic Tech Field Guide
Bharosa 2022: The rise of GovTech: Trojan horse or blessing in disguise? A research agenda		Coldicutt 2022: A digital power glossary
Marin 2022: 5 Busted Myths around Civic Tech		Lindsay 2022 Tweet (Williams RT)
Mullin 2022: Twelve years of HealthCare.gov

Civic Design 101

What is Civic Design?

Civic Design	Helpful Tools	Key Resources	Networks to Know	Conferences
designallyship		Civic Design Library	Dark Matter University Written about Dark Matter University: Next City 2021	Design Policy Conference
Design Justice Network 2018: Design Justice Principles		Designing Motherhood	Guild of Future Architects
Palaniyappan 2020: Design \| A brief history of how racism manifests itself in design and how we can learn from it.		Neuss 2022: User need or user weed? A 10 step guide to curating evidence-based user needs	either/org
Kaszynska et al. 2022: Practice research in design: Towards a novel definition		Buckminster Fuller Institute 2022: Co-Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth	Design Justice Network
Design for Policy extended reading list 2019		City of Boston, Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics (MONUM) 2020: Items of Inspiration	Buckminster Fuller Institute Design Science Studio
			CUP

Cities + Innovation
What is the role of cities? What does it mean to ‘innovate’ in government?

Key Media	Helpful Tools	Key Resources	Networks to Know	Conferences	Funding
Ahmed et al. 2019: Some Thoughts…	made manifest: Barriers to Service Design in Government – Card Deck	Powerful Pathways: The Racial Justice Resource Guide for Planners & Designers	International Town + Gown Association	National League of Cities Congressional City Conference	Emergent Fund
Snow 2019: Here are the 7 skills you need to collaborate in government	Centre for Social Impact 2022: Human Learning Systems: A practical guide for the curious	apolitical 2022: How to read and understand data in the public service	CityStudio	Design Policy Conference
Patton 2020: How 2020 Will Impact Smart Cities	Alvarez et al. 2020: User-Centered Policy: Organization Assessment Written about User-Centered Policy: Graubard et al. 2020: Helping Policy Makers Put People First: A Step-by-Step Tool for User-Centered Policy Making	Strava Metro	PIT-UN	US Conference of Mayors Conference	The Constellation Prize
apolitical 2021: How to craft evidence-based policy in the public service		Civics Renewal Network	MetroLab Network	Intelligent Cities Summit
Centre for Public Impact 2022: Beyond the hype: exploring what transformation in government really means		Digital Policy Guide	People’s Collaborative Governance Network	Creative Bureaucracy Festival
Boots 2022: Everything is broken and no one seems to mind
Davey et al. 2022: Reimagining the Request for Proposal
Czerwienski 2022: Town Meeting 101
Moynihan 2022: Why is American administrative capacity in decline?
Design for Policy extended reading list 2019

Civic Leadership Development
What do we know (and need to know) about cultivating tomorrow’s Civic Leaders? What makes for a ‘good’ Civic Leader?

Key Media	Helpful Tools	Key Resources	Networks to Know	Government Entities
HKS Digital Era Competencies	HKS: Teaching Public Service in the Digital Age Syllabus	Curated list of Civic Fellowships	Volcker Alliance	U.S. Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress
Ogle + Eaves 2017: Moved by Meaning: Attracting, Retaining, and Managing Digital Talent in Government	Kleiman + Shermansong 2022: City Leader Guide on Organizational Culture Change	PIT-UN TechCongress Congressional Innovation Fellowship	Lead for America	18F
Wooley et al. 2020: Modernizing the Relationship between Scientists and the Public	TTS Handbook: Writing a federal government resume	Social Science Research Council Just Tech Fellowship	Coding It Forward	Slack 2021: Comparison of USDS, 18F, and PIF
PIT-UN 2021: Educating Future Data Workers about Ethics, Bias	TTS: Preparing your resume	Civic University: Civic Saturday Fellowship	Civic Action Project (Boston)
Sikkut 2022: Digital Government Excellence: Lessons from Effective Digital Leaders		Urban Leaders Fellowship	First Branch Intern Project
		TechCongress — Congressional Innovation Fellowship — Congressional Innovation Scholars Program	Allied Media Visionary Organizing Lab
		Center for Democracy and Technology Fellows	People’s Collaborative Governance Network
		NYC[X] Tech & Innovation Award	GenUnity
		STEM Ambassador Program
		Civic Tech Career Resources (for software engineers)
		Civic Tech, Qualitative Research Career, & Service and Trauma Informed Design Resources
		Civics Renewal Network
		Anda 2022: Common avoidable mistakes made when applying for UX Research roles and how to overcome them
		CMSI The Civic Leadership Stories Project
		Digital Policy Guide: Hiring

Academic Institutional Change
What are incentives for academics to do Civic X work? How do we change academic institutions to value this work?

Key Media	Helpful Tools	Key Resources	Networks to Know	Funding
Volcker Alliance 2017: Tenure and Promotion at Schools of Public Affairs	IPEDS CollegeMap	Gage / 500 Women Scientists Fix the Gap	CUMU	William T. Grant Foundation Institutional Challenge Grant
Woodruff + Woodruff 2021: Opinion: Include Public Outreach Plans in Grant Requirements	BPC College ROI Calculator
Boots 2022: Everything is broken and no one seems to mind	Collaboratory

Institutional/Organizational Anti-Oppression + Equity Work
How can institutions/organizations think about and act on antiracism?

Key Media	Helpful Tools	Key Resources	Networks to Know
Rea 2015: Researchers Find Everyone Has a Bias Blind Spot	The Ally Nudge	Powerful Pathways: The Racial Justice Resource Guide for Planners & Designers	Women of Color in the Academy
Takahashi 2018: Why your design is biased	Race Forward: Building Racial Equity Toolkit	Racial Equity Data Hub	Academics for Black Survival and Wellness
Roberts 2020: White Academia: Do Better	Okun (adapted): White Dominant Culture worksheet / different adaptation / yet another adaptation	Native Governance Center: A guide to Indigenous land acknowledgment
Van Buren + Torres-Campos 2020: Mass Decarceration, COVID-19, and Justice in America	Anti-Racist HR Guidebook (part of Equity HR Guides)	ChiHackNight 2021: Intro to being anti-racist in civic tech (also see accompanying webinar here)
Planet Money 2020: Patent Racism	Re-framing Pride LGBTQ+ Guide (part of Equity HR Guides)	Powerful Pathways: The Racial Justice Resource Guide for Planners & Designers
@officialmillenialblack 2020: Why Your Workplace Diversity Committee Isn’t Working	Lean In 50 Ways to Fight Bias	Eos Foundation: Women’s Power Gap Initiative
18F 2020: Agile Traps: Common practices that wreck teams	Metro: Rapid Equity Assessment	Gage / 500 Women Scientists Fix the Gap
Tomkin 2020: How White People Conquered the Non-Profit Industry	Noel: “Who Am I” Positionality Wheel (scroll down to ‘Downloadable Materials’)	coursera course: Inclusive Leadership: The Power of Workplace Diversity
Dorsey et al. 2020: Overcoming the Racial Bias in Philanthropic Funding	Project Implicit: Implicit Association Tests	designallyship
Jacobin Show 2021: How Nonprofits Preserve Inequality	Ives-Rublee: Disability Inclusion Toolkit	ASAN Identity-First Language
Foxworth 2022: Hear Us: Shifting Capital Isn’t Just About the Amount. It’s About Who’s in Control		Critical Alphabet
		The Future of Science Film Fellowship
		Coldicutt 2022: A digital power glossary

Civic X Podcasts
Who else is talking about these things?

Civic Research	Civic Data	Civic Tech	Civic Design	Local Government
SSN No Jargon	Stanford + PRX Raw Data	Civic Tech Chat	Adobe Wireframe	ICMA Local Gov Life
Mathematica On the Evidence	Partially Derivative	CityLab Technopolis	MIT DUSP We Who Engage (formerly The Move)	ELGL GovLove
The Policy Lab @ Brown 30,000 Leagues	HKS Ash Center Data-Smart City Podcast	Vox Decoder (formerly Recode Decode)		Governing In the Arena
UChicago Knowledge Applied	Data 4 Black Lives Tunnels	Smart City Dive City Surveillance Watch		Governing 23%
Bloomberg Philanthropies Follow the Data				Next City Podcast
J-PAL Voices

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