Cathy Copeland

Cathy Copeland currently serves as the Director of Campuswide Immersion at the Institute for Citizens & Scholars. Prior to that role, she was the director of the American Democracy Project at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, where she led universities in institutionalizing, assessing, and growing civic engagement on their campuses. Copeland taught for more than 15 years at various institutions of higher education and her research interests include analyzing political rhetoric, nurturing campus-community relationships, and developing transdisciplinary courses to tackle real-world problems such as human trafficking, election confidence, and food insecurity.

Copeland holds a BA in biology from Hanover College and an MA in English literature from Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis. She completed doctoral coursework in Renaissance literature at the University of Alabama. Copeland served as the inaugural civic fellow for the Madison Center for Civic Engagement and graduated in 2018 from the University of Virginia’s Sorensen Institute Political Leaders Program. She is honored to serve on the Board of Directors for both the eJournal of Public Affairs and the National Issues Forums Institute.