Interdisciplinary Co-Teaching and Community-Engaged Learning: Integrating Community Case Studies to Teach Ethics, Justice, and Grassroots Leadership

This paper serves as a teaching report examining an interdisciplinary, co-taught course at a rural, regional state university designed to promote ethics, justice, and grassroots leadership through community-engaged learning (CEL). Faculty from criminal justice, philosophy, and leadership studies co-developed and taught the course using Socratic dialogue and reflective journaling to help students analyze community challenges from multiple disciplinary angles. Students also engaged in training on positionality, power dynamics, and cultural humility, incorporating their reflections into final reports to deepen ethical engagement. Regular faculty collaboration aligned teaching strategies across disciplines, while a case study presentation and analysis allowed community partners to provide constructive feedback. This approach highlighted the value of academic-community partnerships in addressing real-world social justice issues and preparing students for ethical leadership.Our study presents an adaptable framework for co-teaching and CEL that bridges theory and practice to foster critical thinking and socially responsible leadership.