What's New in Civic Education and Youth Civic Engagement Work .... (December 2003 Archive Section)

 

December 22, 2003

• 21st Century Schools of Distinction Awards. Thanks to support from Scholastic Administrator, Intel, and the Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence Foundation, 20 outstanding K-12 schools in the United States will receive up to $25,000 in funding. Schools must demonstrate excellence in any of nine categories: academic excellence, community involvement, innovative use of technology, involved parent/teachers, partnership, professional development, teamwork, technology implementation, and technology excellence. There will be two winners in each of these areas. Application deadline: December 31, 2003. For more information go to: http://scholastic.com/administrator/popup_award.htm.

  December 19, 2003

• The CyberHood is a place where students, scholars, practitioners, and activists from across the racial and class divide can find one another to exchange information about issue of importance to urban communities. Information exchanged on the website and the listserv linked to it is intended to strengthen the struggle to understand and transform inner cities and the metropolitan regions of which they are a part. Visit the CyberHood at www.thecyberhood.net and join the CyberHood listserv. For more information go to: rms35@ap.buffalo.edu.

  December 18, 2003

• Of interest in today's Washington Post:
  - A Special Report: The 2004 Elections. Includes information on Presidential Candidate profiles; transcripts from democratic debates; politics campaign reports; Senate and Governor races; and much more. For more information go to: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/front.htm

  - Volunteer Service on the Increase - "More people than ever in the United States reported participating in organized volunteer work over the last year, according to a federal report released yesterday. About 63.8 million people did volunteer work in the year ending in September 2003, an increase of more than 6 percent from the 59.8 million from the year before, according to the report by the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics. The percentage of all people 16 and older who volunteered increased from 27.4 percent to 28.8 percent, the report found…" By Christopher Lee, December 18, 2003, The Washington Post.
  

  December 17, 2003

• The Dirksen Center invites applications for grants to fund research on congressional leadership and the U.S. Congress. A total of up to $35,000 will be available in 2004. Applications are accepted at any time, but the deadline is February 1, 2004, for the annual selections, which are announced in March.

  For information about eligibility and application procedures go to: http://www.dirksencenter.org/grantcongresearchaward.htm or contact Frank Mackaman, Program Officer at fmackaman@dirksencenter.org.
  

  December 16, 2003

• National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) is offering up to 15 internships in Washington, D.C., for the summer of 2004. College students entering their junior or senior year in fall 2004 are eligible. NEH interns receive $4,000 for 10 weeks of work. Applicants must be U.S. citizens, foreign nationals who have been legal residents in the United States for at least 3 years or territorial residents of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Past interns have written articles for Humanities magazine, researched emerging fields in the humanities, and developed web-based tools for gathering humanities-related information. The application deadline is Monday, January 5, 2004. Applications are being accepted online. For more information go to http://www.neh.gov/interns/guidelines.html or contact Ralph Canevali at internship@neh.gov.

  December 15, 2003

• As part of its WE THE PEOPLE initiative, the National Endowment for the Humanities seeks grant applications for public humanities programs that engage Youth and Families in American History. Applications may be submitted to the Division of Public Programs under the Museums and Historic Sites, Libraries and Archives, or Special Projects grant categories at the following deadlines: February 3, 2004 for implementation; March 22 or September 16, 2004, for consultation; September 16, 2004, for planning.

  Youth and Family Programs in American History will be substantive public humanities programs that encourage intergenerational learning about significant topics in U.S. history and culture, or that engage young people in reflection and discussion of defining events, eras, individuals or ideas in our nation's past.

  For more information contact 202-606-8267; publicpgms@neh.gov; or visit the website at: http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/familyyouthprograms.html
  

  December 12, 2003

• The CivicMind Award for improving civic participation and education goes to Public Interest Research Groups, an alliance of state-based organizations that advocate to protect the environment, encourage a fair marketplace for consumers and foster responsive, democratic government. The PIRGs have partnered with The George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management in an historic non-partisan effort to increase the turnout of young voters in six states: Iowa, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon and Wisconsin. For more information go to: http://www.civicmind.com/wpirg.htm.

  December 10, 2003

• The Library of Congress announces the release on the American Memory website of American Notes: Travels in America, 1750-1920. The website is comprised of 253 published narratives by Americans and foreign visitors recounting their travels in the colonies and the United States and their observations and opinions about American peoples, places, and society from about 1750 to 1920. Also included is the thirty-two-volume set of manuscript sources entitled Early Western Travels, 1748-1846, published between 1904 and 1907. All items are from the general collections of the Library of Congress. For more information go to: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/lhtnhtml.

  December 9, 2003

• The Pennsylvania Center for Civic Life at Lock Haven announces the launching of Democracy Lab, a new national initiative. For spring semester classes, Democracy Lab offers 10-week online dialoguue modules designed for instructor adoption and purchase by students for the only $25. Put your students in guided small group deliberations with students from around the country. Students are led through the consideration of alternative approaches, the design, conduct and discussion of citizen research and the exploration of action possibilities. A web resource for Teaching and Learning about Democracy featuring three online public issue forums at http://www.teachingdemocracy.org/DL/cbf/description.asp for spring 2004 classes:
  - By the People: Americans' Role in the World at:
  http://www.teachingdemocracy.org/DL/Issues/role.asp
  - Three American Futures: What Direction Should We Take? at:
  http://www.teachingdemocracy.org/DL/Issues/futures.asp
  - Democracy Lab is an ideal curricular tool at:
  http://www.teachingdemocracy.org/DL/Benefits/pedagogy.asp

  Reserve now online at http://www.teachingdemocracy.org/DL/reservations.aspl. Direct inquiries
  to Dr. James Knauer at The Center for Civic Life: civiclife@lhup.edu or 570-893-2491.
  

  December 8, 2003

• UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education and Access (IDEA) today launched Equal Terms in LA: The Struggle for Educational Justice, 1954-2004," an interactive on-line series of public dialogues with urban youth, parents, teachers, community advocates and policymakers commemorating the 50-year anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision. Through a range of interviews, on-line commentaries, student-led "public histories" and video documentaries on the struggle for educational justice, the series examines Brown¹s promise of education on "equal terms," and whether its legacy remains alive today within Los Angeles area schools and communities. The "Equal Terms" series marks the fifth year of IDEA¹s on-line journal, Teaching to Change LA (TCLA) which can be accessed at http://tcla.gseis.ucla.edu/equalterms.

  TCLA also provides ideas and tools for teachers and students to create their own Equal Terms history projects on Brown and its legacy. The first issue offers a set of ideas for getting started as well as an array of on-line resources for teaching about Brown, segregation, and the struggle for educational justice in Los Angeles.
  http://tcla.gseis.ucla.edu/equalterms/history/create.html
  For more information, contact rogers@gseis.ucla.edu
  

  December 5, 2003

• Grant funds for teachers! The National Council for the Social Studies has received a grant from the federal Corporation for National and Community Service to fund "CiviConnections: Constructing the Past, Creating the Future." The new program will provide an opportunity for teacher teams and students in grades 3-12 to link local historical inquiry with community service-learning activities. Thirty-three teams of teachers will be awarded grants of $7,500 for implementing the program in classrooms and communities all across America.

  Teams of three teachers can apply for a $7,500 grant to cover their costs for:
  - attending a three day summer workshop
  - implementing the program in their classrooms during the Fall of 2004
  - attending the 2004 NCSS Annual Conference in Baltimore (November 19-21)

  Download an application from the NCSS website at:
  http://www.socialstudies.org/civiconnections or e-mail civiconnections@ncss.org to request an application to be mailed to you.

  Applications are due at NCSS no later than 5 pm on Friday, April 30, 2004. For further information about CiviConnections or the application process, contact Treverne Brown-Thomas at civiconnections@ncss.org.
  

• The American Political Science Association recently opened the Centennial Center for Political Science & Public Affairs in its headquarters building in Washington. As part of its programs, the Centennial Center assists scholars from the United States and abroad whose research and teaching would benefit from a stay in and access to the incomparable resources available in the nation's capital. The Center provides Visiting Scholars the infrastructure needed to conduct their work, including furnished work space with computer, phone, fax, conference space, and library access. Eligibility is limited to APSA members. Senior or junior faculty members, post-doctoral fellows, and advanced graduate students are strongly encouraged to apply. A short application form is required and submissions will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Positions are awarded based on space availability and relevant Center programming.

  For more information and an application please visit the Centennial Center web site http://www.apsanet.org/centennialcenter or call at 202.483.2512.
  

  December 2, 2003

• The New York Times Learning Network Lesson Plan, developed in partnership with The Bank Street College of Education in New York City, presents " You've Got Spam: Learning To Avoid Unwanted Email." In this lesson plan, based on The New York Times article,"" by, , students will brainstorm various forms of protest, examine the context for President George W. Bush's visit to Britain, and research protests throughout history. Students then use the information gathered to create informative posters and diary entries from the perspectives of people who participated in past protests. For the complete lesson plan, as well as other information on the site see http://www.nytimes.com/learning/. To read the article, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20031119wednesday.html.
  

  December 1, 2003

• The Education Commission for the State's Connection reports that in Connecticut, Governor John Rowland signed legislation (SB 646) that establishes a statewide student-voter registration drive and encourages students to learn about civics and participate in the political process. For more information go to: http://www.ecs.org/e-Connection-ws