Civic Identity

By Tasnia Iqbal, Emily Brekke, and Emily Hestbech

What is Civic Identity?

1. Civic Identity is how a person's beliefs and personality affects their participation in community.

2. As a team, our civic identity was a group of college students who wanted to make a positive impact in another community.

3. Since we each have individual identities, each student's motivations for participating in this project are different.

What United Us

What Made Us Different

One of the things that made our Alternative Spring Break trip successful was our ability to work together as a team. While we are all unique individuals, we shared some civic identities that helped us work together successfully and unify our passion for the service on this trip.

In addition to our similarities, our team was also able to thrive because we provided different perspectives based on our differences in civic identities. Due to the diversity within our group, we were able to apply various viewpoints and our individual strengths.

Hawkeyes
Passion for service
DANCE MARATHON!
Interest in community and public health
Interest in political disparities across groups

Race
Religion
Political View
Background

Applying our Civic Identites in Memphis

Application:

Bridging the gap between the civic identity of being an Iowan/Hawkeye and a visitor and volunteer in Memphis

Application:

Channeling one's spiritual identity in order to understand the implications of historical events such as lynchings in Memphis and their aftermath

Application:

People of all cultures and political affiliations can be passionate about serving others, but one's specific cultural and political identities in society influence what social issues and policies they feel strongly about.

Application:

Many of us are members of Dance Marathon and/or pre-health students, so we were able to apply our knowledge from these civic identities in order to learn about cancer treatment and fundraising in the Memphis community.

EMILY BREKKE

Civic Identities:

Christian
Pre-Med student at the University of Iowa
Iowan
Republican
Service-oriented

Leader
Dance Marathon Participant
Hospital Volunteer
Member of Delta Gamma

Application:

My civic identities have shaped the way I participate in my community. I enjoy taking on leadership roles and going out of my way to serve others. In addition, the causes I chose to engage in reflect my political and religious identities. This trip specifically challenged and changed my civic identity by putting me into a new community and adapting to those differences. I believe it is important to engage your civic identities in order to have a deeper understanding of the impacts they have on your community involvement and life in general.

TASNIA IQBAL

Civic Identities:

Community member of Iowa City and student at the University of Iowa

Iowan

Muslim

South Asian

Pre-Med student

Democrat

Servant leader in Iowa City

EMILY HESTBECH

Civic Identities:

University of Iowa student

Midwesterner

Leader

Active Member of Iowa City

Member of Sigma Lambda Gamma Sorority

Future Application

Use ideas we gained from Up Til Dawn to improve our Big Event and vice versa
Take action as Iowans/Midwesterners/Hawkeyes to take a close look at our own under-served populations
Work with other spiritual/religious members to initiate an interfaith prayer
Educate and encourage members of our groups and social networks to engage in these activities

Resources:

UIHC HIV/AIDS Clinic

Up Til Dawn

Iowa City Hope Lodge

Iowa City Shelter House

Info about Interfaith prayer

Google Sites

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