A primary focus of the Center for Economic and Civid Learning (CECL) is collaboration and connections.

A primary goal of CECL is to build a community across Ball State, Indiana, and our nation that recognizes, supports, and fosters economic and civic learning.

Objective and Strategies
1. Develop relationships with potential collaborators inside and outside the University.
2. Create a peer network to share of knowledge, strategies, and resources that advance economic and civic learning.
3. Work to understand the economic and civic needs of our community, State and nation and develop new projects and activities to effectively address these needs.
4. Play an active role in national organizations that represent and support economic and civic learning.

The Center of Economic and Civic Learning is appreciative of the following organizations:

The Indiana Bar Foundation: Since its humble beginnings in 1950, the Indiana Bar Foundation has emerged as a statewide and national leader in expanding civic education and contributing to an accessible civil legal system for all Indiana residents.

MISSION: The Indiana Bar Foundation inspires and leads change to improve civic education and legal assistance for all Hoosiers.

VISION: To be the premier statewide charitable organization and trusted partner advancing civic literacy and the legal system.

The Indiana Bar Foundation and a host of supporters have supported the bi-annual publication of the Indiana Civic Health Index (INCHI) covering a variety of topics gauging civic health during the last 10 years.

Indiana Business Alliance for Civics: As part of the Indiana Civics Coalition, the Indiana Business Alliance for Civics will speak out in support of K–12 civic education, promote civic knowledge among the state’s workforce, and highlight the economic reasons for investing in civic education.The Indiana Business Alliance for Civics(IBAC) exists to help every Hoosier business — from large corporations to small businesses and solo entrepreneurs — increase civic engagement and improve civic education amongst their workforce and within the communities they serve.

The IBAC is nonpartisan, non-political, and free for any Indiana business, chamber of commerce, or trade association to join, regardless of size. Its members receive assistance and support in three key areas:

  • Voter registration of employees. Help members get their employees registered to vote through multiple means by providing best practices and connecting them with nonpartisan partners.
  • Voter education in the workplace. Supply members a variety of curriculum resources in foundational civics education — including real-time, in person, self-directed — to meet the surging interest from employees.
  • Next generation of voters. Provide materials to members who wish to get more involved in the civic education offerings of their local schools and school districts.

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    The Remnant Trust, Inc. is an educational foundation located in Indianapolis, Indiana. It houses a collection of original and first edition works dealing with topics including individual liberty and human dignity. Some of the Trust’s pieces date back as early as 1250.

    Following along a timeline of liberty and dignity, the Remnant Trust’s collection is comprised of some of the greatest works of man that focus on the proper function of government, responsibility of citizenship, and how we live together in society.

    Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site: previously known as the Benjamin Harrison Home, is the former home of the 23rd president of the United States, Benjamin Harrison. It is in the Old Northside Historic District of Indianapolis, Indiana. Harrison’s 16-room house was built from 1874 to 1875.

    The Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site has a variety of engaging programs for school-aged students, including options onsite, at your school, and online. School programs are designed by our Education department to meet state standards. Programs connect the history of the Harrison family to the greater American story, tracing how generations of Harrisons are linked to parts of U.S. History such as the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the opening of Ellis Island, and the adoption of the Pledge of Allegiance.

    The Democratic Knowledge Project (DKP) is a K-16 civic education provider based at Harvard University. We offer curriculum development resources, professional development workshops for educators, and assessment tools and services—all in support of education for democracy.

    The DKP has now co-designed an open source year-long Grade 8 Civics Course with the Cambridge Public School District: “Civic Engagement in Our Democracy.” Known as the DKP-Cambridge Grade 8 curriculum, it is open source and available to all Massachusetts educators. In addition, we offer the following resources and services:

    Affiliated Faculty

    David J. Roof, Ph.D. began his career as a teacher. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Educational Policy Studies. He currently oversees the Center for Economic and Civic Learning (CECL) and is an Associate Professor in Department of Educational Studies at Ball State. Dr. Roof is the Principal Investigator of the U.S. Department of Education funded Civic Renewal through Education for Agency, Tolerance, and Engagement or CREATE project, an innovative approach to instruction, student learning in civics, that integrates American history, geography, government, and media literacy. Dr. Roof has been an invited keynote speaker at multiple education conferences and serves on the editorial board for multiple journals. He has run several large projects for the U.S. Department of State and is on the Board of Trustees for the American Institute of Pakistan Studies. He has worked for many years as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Education. Dr. Roof will help oversee the overall project and assume responsibility for the submission of reports in consultation with the external evaluator. Dr. Roof will help communicate with all project partners and coordinate activities between Ball State and MCS. Dr. Roof will help lead planning sessions and work with the evaluator and others to make any needed changes to the project.

    See David J Roof – Vitae 6-October-2024

    Anand R. Marri, Ph.D. is the acting Provost of Ball State University. He previously served as Dean of Ball State University’s Teachers College (TC). Dr. Marri’s academic research focuses on economic literacy, civic and multicultural education, teacher education, and urban education. He has been awarded more than $6.5 million, including grant from the Spencer Foundation, the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, the New York State Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Education, Ball State Teachers College, Columbia University Trustee Joyce Cowin, and the Teagle Foundation. As Co-PI, Dr. Marri will ensure project fidelity by meeting regularly with the PI and communicating with Ball State’s upper administration. Dr. Marri’s consistent contact with the provost and university president will ensure continued administrative support for the project.

    Trygve Throntveit, Ph.D. has served as the Director of Strategic Partnership at the Minnesota Humanities Center, Director and Co-Founder of the Institute for Public Life and Work, and Global Fellow for History and Public Policy at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Trained as a historian of American political thought, American political development, and US foreign policy, Throntveit has spent most of his career writing and teaching about diverse conceptions of democracy. His work has expanded to include organizing diverse citizens, to enhance the overall ecology of democracy through commons-building work across differences. He co-organized and led the Spencer-funded Minnesota Civic Studies Initiative, which convened Minnesotans from diverse cultural, ideological, and professional backgrounds in a two-year series of monthly meetings to build trust, leverage networks, and identify areas of common concern and potential collaboration. Throntveit also co-organized and led one of the efforts to emerge from MNCIS, the Ramsey County Civic Project, which facilitates discussions of controversial topics in productive ways. At the Minnesota Humanities Center, Throntveit has organized and facilitated several statewide virtual events designed to foster deliberation and build civic capacity. Throntveit co-leads the Teagle-funded project “Third Way Civics: Preparing Undergraduates for Lives of Moral Integrity and Public Purpose,” an effort to help undergraduates build the foundations of a values-based but pluralistic, action-oriented but non-polarizing civic identity through a rigorous course in “Key Civic Sources and Essential Civic Skills.” Throntveit was Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies in History at Harvard.