What's New in Civic Education and Youth Civic Engagement Work .... (August 2004 Archive Section)

August 31, 2004

• The 2005 Citizenship & Ideology in Education (CIIE 2005) Mini-Conference invites proposals for the general paper and poster sessions. The conference provides an opportunity for scholars, policymakers, and teachers to explore ways in which various ideologies become incorporated into schooling and the degree to which citizenship in various social, political, economic, and religious communities emerges as a result of public education. The program will consist of general paper sessions (for individual and group presentations selected through a peer review process), invited speakers, panel discussions, poster sessions, formal and informal discussion opportunities, and a hands-on teaching and policymaking workshop. For more information go to: http://www.orgs.utulsa.edu/ciie/.

  August 30, 2004

• The American Studies Graduate Students Association at Michigan State University announces "Shaking Hands and Kissing Babies: Campaigns and Elections in American Culture." This will be the second MSU American Studies Graduate Student Conference and held on October 1-2, 2004 in East Lansing, Michigan, in conjunction with the Fall Festival of the American Arts. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Gary Gerstle, professor and chair of History at the University of Maryland. Dr. Gerstle is the author of several books, including American Crucible: Race and Nation in the Twentieth Century (2001). For more information contact: tremperk@msu.edu.

  August 27, 2004

• The Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools has announced six $150,000 two-year grants are going to coalitions in Colorado, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. A review was conducted of 36 proposals from 33 states and based on a scoring system established, broad agreement on finalists emerged from the combined scoring of the proposals. A similar review is underway at present for twelve $20,000 grants received 39 proposals from 31 states and the District of Columbia. It is expected that this selection process will be completed and announcements made next month. A press release, grantee awardee information, and the steering committee list are available for review.

  August 26, 2004

• The American Political Science Association has announced the addition of the Committee on Civic Education and Engagement Roundtable on "Democracy at Risk: A New Political Science of Citizenship" and the Report of the Standing Committee on Civic Education and Engagement of the APSA for its Annual Meeting in Chicago, August 31 - September 5. The panel will be held on Friday, September 3 at 10:15 am. Members include: Chair: Stephen Macedo, Princeton University; Yvette Alex-Assensoh, Indiana University; Jeffrey Berry, Tufts University; David E. Campbell, University of Notre Dame; Luis Fraga, Stanford University; William A. Galston, University of Maryland at College Park; Margaret Levi, University of Washington; Meira Levinson, Boston Public Schools; Richard Niemi, University of Rochester; Wendy Rahn, University of Minnesota; Rob Reich, Stanford University; Katherine Cramer Walsh, University of Wisconsin at Madison; Robert Putnam, Harvard University; Archon Fung, Harvard University; Todd Swanstrom, St. Louis University; Chris Karpowitz, Princeton University; Rob Rodgers, Princeton University; and Michael Brintnall, American Political Science Association. For more information go to: http://www.apsanet.org/news/enewsletter.cfm.

  August 25, 2004

• The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has announced a grant of $5.2 million over four years to the University of Pennsylvania in support of the Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood, which is examining the new challenges facing young people, ages 18 to 34, as they make the transition to become self-sufficient adults.

  The Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood was established in 2000 with MacArthur support to examine the changing nature of early adulthood. From a developmental perspective, Network researchers are examining the traditional milestones in the journey to adulthood-leaving home, entering or leaving school, finding employment, marriage, and childbearing. They are also exploring how psychological development relates to these social transitions, and how institutions that have typically facilitated the transition-such as schools and workplaces-might adapt to address the needs of young people in the 21st century.

  Grant funds will be used for the final stages of research exploring the psychological and social dimensions of development that occur as individuals move from their late teens into their twenties and early thirties. Support will also be used to examine three programs-Opening Doors at select community colleges, the Department of Defense's National Guard ChalleNGe, and Americorps. The examination of community colleges, the military, and volunteer services is intended to contribute to a growing body of research examining the early adulthood years, a period that has been largely overlooked by social and behavioral scientists and policymakers.

  For more information, please go to: http://www.macfound.org/announce/press_releases/8_05_2004.htm or contact Jen Humke at 312-726-8000.