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

February 28, 2003

• The online article "Poll Shows that Education is a Priority for American Voters," on PNN Online, indicates that despite worries over a potential war with Iraq, domestic terrorist attacks, rising medical insurance costs, and ballooning federal and state budget deficits, a new national PEN/Ed Week poll conducted in late January reveals that education is a top priority for American voters. Participants rated protecting and strengthening education of greater concern than health care, terrorism, national security, Social Security, and job creation. The poll also presents a new "civic index" that citizens can use to determine how well their local community supports public education. Top indicators of strong community support for public education include parent involvement, leadership of officeholders, active parent groups, knowledge of school board activities, and availability of school performance data. To read the entire article go to http://www.pnnonline.org/article.php?sid=4253

  February 27, 2003

• Several new items have been added to The Pew Trusts' Web site this week:

  - Youth Engagement: "Students on 250 Campuses Nationwide Unite to Tell Their Peers to Get a Civic Life; Get Involved in Public Debates" a press release and media kit by the Raise Your Voice, Student Action for Change reports that "This Presidents' Day weekend, more than 100,000 college and university students across the country joined to launch the Raise Your Voice campaign, a multi-year national effort to increase student involvement in public life. The campaign is a student-led initiative to encourage students to take action--from volunteering to voting--to create change."
  - Youth Involvement in Politics and the Community - Facts and Stats from Raise Your Voice provides information on youth engagement in politics and their community.

  For more information on the above go to http://www.pewtrusts.com.
  

• The 5th International Youth Leadership Conference will be held from July 20-25, 2004 and July 27 - August 1, 2003 in Prague, Czech Republic by Civic Concepts International. Students between the ages of 18-24 are invited to join 150 fellow students from all over the world in a fun week-long forum on the future of world leadership and International relations.

  Enjoy historical walking tours of the glorious old city of Prague, including exclusive visits to Czech Parliament, Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Embassies, and historical venues where you will be participating in a Model Parliament simulation based on World Trade Organization (WTO) ratification. There will be a United Nations Security Council meeting, in which all participants role-play the characters of international diplomats, and an International War Crimes Tribunal, in which justice is sought for violations of international human rights.

  As a student, you will be an diplomatic representative of your country, making new friends with students from all over the world. The recent conference hosted 200 students from 70 different nations worldwide.

  Applications are now being accepting on-line. For more information visit http://www.czechleadership.com or contact Jan Novacek at summer2003@czechleadership.com
  

  February 22, 2003

• On April 7-12, 2003 DePauw University will host the major symposium "Political Education and the Modern University." Supported by a grant from the Mellon Foundation, the symposium will bring 11 nationally distinguished scholars to DePauw, including historian and civil rights leader Roger Wilkins; Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter and best-selling author James B. Stewart; and keynote speaker Michael J. Sandel, Professor of Government at Harvard University.

  Over the symposium's six days, the panel of distinguished scholars will grapple with a wide range of difficult but important questions. For example, can universities engage in character education without abandoning the principle of value neutrality central to the disinterested search for truth? Is there a role for religion in support of a secular republic? Do the mass media help or hinder the processes of democracy? If universities reflect the religious, racial, ethnic, and ideological diversity of the larger society, can they also teach the values of a common citizenship? As universities become more and more devoted to serving the private career aspirations of their students, can they also teach those same students to be the public-spirited citizens that a democratic republic requires? Is such a "political" education compatible with the obligations we Americans have to humanity as such in an increasingly interdependent world?

  The symposium's format will include a public lecture by each guest, followed by a seminar with faculty and students, as well as a panel discussion each day, also open to the public. The speakers not only have produced an outstanding body of scholarly work while teaching generations of undergraduates, but they also have participated in the polity and civil society about which they write. They have advised presidents, worked as public servants, testified before Congress, helped other nations draft constitutions, won Pulitzer Prizes, led antiwar protests, chaired faculty committees on moral reasoning in the curriculum, and guided their professional organizations.

  All the Symposium lectures and panel discussions are open to the public and are presented free of charge. For more information on "Political Education and the Modern University" contact Robert Calvert at rcalvert@depauw.edu or visit http://www.depauw.edu.
  

  February 20, 2003

• The National Alliance for Civic Education is pleased to announce that it has received TheCivicMind Award for February 2003. The award is announced online to draw public attention to organizations that are making innovative contributions to civics education and civic participation. For more information about the award and TheCivicMind go to http://www.civicmind.com/wnace.htm

  February 19, 2003

• The recent editorial, "Happy Presidents' Day in The Washington Post, endorses the major new report "The Civic Mission of Schools" just released by The Carnegie Corporation of New York and CIRCLE, and written by 57 authors/endorsers, including several individual NACE members and organizations, and it's role in tomorrow's White House Forum on American history, civics and service. The editorial states that the report "is unusual, mostly because of the people who have endorsed it: everyone along the political spectrum from left to right, from teachers unions to the Heritage Foundation. It is also unusual in its originality, not recommending the revival of traditional civics classes but rather focusing on how civics can be incorporated into history classes, current events classes, community service requirements and extracurricular activities - as well as on how civics can and should be tested, in order to give the subject the same prestige as others, and on how teachers can be taught to teach it. These seem to be sensible principles, around which even the warring educational factions should be able to make common cause." To read the complete editorial, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18506-2003Feb16.html

• M.E. Sharpe, a New York-based academic and reference publisher, and East River Books, a reference book producer, are seeking contributing scholars for a four-volume reference work on the post-World War II era of American history entitled Postwar America: An Encyclopedia of Social, Political, Cultural, and Economic History. The final encyclopedia set in a series on eras in American history, the project is aimed at the academic high school and undergraduate levels. The General Editor is Dr. James Ciment, editor of the award-winning Encyclopedia of American Immigration.

  The encyclopedia will include articles on 1) politics and government, 2) economy, labor, and business, 3) society, 4) religion and education, 5) technology, science, and the environment, and 6) arts and culture. There will be entries on individuals, places, ideas, events, institutions, and general themes. Articles will vary in length from 750-2,500 words for entries on specific topics (depending on significance) to 5,000 words for general essays. Postwar America will also include a number of ancillary features, including chronologies, bibliographies (primary and secondary sources), and original documents.

  They are seeking contributors for articles, chronologies, bibliographies, and primary document selection and compilation. Contributors will receive full authorial credit, a modest cash honorarium and/or copy of the full encyclopedia set (depending on contribution length and contributor preference).

  If you are interested in contributing to this exciting and important reference project-which they hope will be the definitive reference work on colonial America - or receive a prospectus with a full description of the project including deadline, compensation, and other pertinent information, including a table of contents. Please contact the encyclopedia editorial assistant, Rebecca Black at postwaramerica@yahoo.com
  

• Americanism: An Historical Conference is being held at the Copley Formal Lounge at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. on March 27- 28, 2003. All events free and open to the public. The Keynote Address, "Anti-Americanism as a Form of Americanism" by Louis Menand (City University of New York) will be held at 6:00 p.m. March 27. Other panels beginning on March 28, beginning at 9:30 a.m. include:

  Origins of Americanism:
  - "Antebellum Black Responses to Thomas Jefferson," Mia Bay (Rutgers)
  - "The Changing Meaning of the Armed Citizen in American Culture," Saul Cornell (Ohio State)
  - "Republicanism in Early America," Robert Shalhope (Oklahoma)

  Mature Americanism:
  - "Aliens, Alien Citizens, and the Problem of Loyalty" Mae Ngai (U. of Chicago)
  - "Cosmopolitan Patriotism" Jonathan Hansen (Boston U.)
  - "Law and Messianic Counterwar from FDR to George W. Bush," Anders Stephanson (Columbia)

  Americanism Contested:
  - "Religious Diversity: The American Experiment That Works," Alan Wolfe (Boston College)
  - "The Congressional Black Caucus and the National Interest," Ronald Walters (University of Maryland)
  - "Sisterhood Unveiled: American Feminists and the Muslim Woman," Melani McAlister (George Washington)

  For more information contact Michael Kazin or Katherine Buc Gallagher at
  mk8@georgetown.edu or kbg22@georgetown.edu
  

  February 16, 2003

• Today's article, "Schools' Civic Mission" by David Broder for The Washington Post, strongly supports the new report The Civic Mission of Schools just released by The Carnegie Corporation of New York and CIRCLE, and written by 57 authors/endorsers, including several individual NACE members and organizations, and it's role in tomorrow's White House Forum on American history, civics and service. The article states that the report "addresses the well-recognized problem of the erosion of political participation by young people in this nation" and that schools are "well equipped to impart basic knowledge of government and politics." David Broder quotes the report, recognizing that schools are "the only institution with the capacity and mandate to reach virtually every young person in the country...communities in which young people learn to interact, argue, and work together with others, an important condition for future citizenship." It concludes with a summary of the report's key recommendations. To read the entire article go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10603-2003Feb14.html

  February 15, 2003

• The Michigan Youth Caucus, (MYC) is sponsored by the Michigan Civics Institute and members of the state legislature to give students a genuine voice in public affairs. The overall goal is to use online tools and offline meetings and conventions to facilitate the creation of the MYC platform. Available for use by Michigan residents ages 15-22, participants can get involved in one of two ways:

  - Serving as a regional representative: Taking on a leadership role as a representative is the most intensive way an MYC member can be involved in the Michigan Youth Caucus, and requires near-daily participation. Representatives engage in online deliberation, negotiation and collaboration in order to produce a platform representing the needs and interests of Michigan residents ages 15-22.

  - Being a social activist and/or an active constituent: MYC members not wishing or able to represent their region can become active in other ways, including (but not limited to) writing for HighestWire.Com, running regional social action projects, participating in online discussions and polling activities, and constructing "virtual tours" of issues affecting different regions across the state.

  For more information on MYC go to http://government.soe.umich.edu/newics/myc.lasso
  

  February 13, 2003

• Today, Carnegie Corporation of New York (http://www.carnegie.org) and CIRCLE (http://www.civicyouth.org) released a major new report on civic education entitled The Civic Mission of Schools. The report summarizes the evidence in favor of civic education in k-12 schools; analyzes trends in political and civic engagement; identifies promising approaches to civic education; and offers recommendations to educators, policymakers, funders, researchers, and others. It was written by 57 authors/endorsers, including several individual NACE members and representatives of such organizations as the American Federation of Teachers, American Political Science Association, American Bar Association, Center for Civic Education, National Conference of the Social Studies, and Education Commission of the States. The report was formally received at a Washington, DC press conference by John Bridgeland, Assistant to the President of the United States and Director of the USA Freedom Corps. Free copies of the report are available; please visit http://www.civicmissionofschools.org.

February 12, 2003

• The Society for Values in Higher Education (SVHE) is seeking faculty and academic leaders across disciplines who are interested in joining a growing network of academics committed to advancing democratic pedagogy and leadership in higher education. If you fit this description, you are invited to join a small working group, Discussion, Dialogue, and Deliberation: Three-D Teaching and Learning, April 2-4, 2003 at the Trinity Conference Center in Cornwall, CT. Thirty to forty people will gather to focus on democratic dialogue as pedagogy and a model for institutional leadership; linking theory and practice; and research, assessment, and scholarship. The cost for this workshop is $200. For further details, or go to http://www.svhe.org
  

• Thataway.org has added a lot of new announcements, resources, ideas and events to Dialogue to Action's Community section. A sample includes:
  - Special April workshop for academics committed to dialogue and democracy
  - This month's "Raise Your Voice - A Week of Action" to deepen campus civic
  engagement efforts
  - New opportunity for consultants to be listed at idealist.org
  - Opportunity to subscribe to the new Collaborative Communities E-Newsletter
  - Calls for submissions: Anti-Bias Education Conference and 4th Annual
  Conflict Resolution Conference
  - Update on MacNeil/Lehrer dialogue project By the People: America in the
  World
  - New book by Maggie Potapchuk on working interdependently for just and
  inclusive communities
  - Delaware hospitals use dialogue to improve patient services
  - Update on Study Circles & Teaching Tolerance 'Mix It Up' partnership
  For more information go to http://www.thataway.org/dialogue/com/com_intro.htm

  Also, on their Community Calendar they have events such as:
  - Washington, DC-based Peace Cafés
  - Dialogue and Negotiation: Lenses, Tools and Strategies
  - 11th Annual Int'l Conference on Conflict Resolution
  - National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in American Higher Education
  - Harwood Institute event at National Press Club on reconnecting communities
  and schools

  For more go to http://www.thataway.org/dialogue/com/com_cal.htm
  

  February 11, 2003

• Our Documents: A National Initiative on American History, Civics, and Service, a cooperative among National History Day, The National Archives and Records Administration, USA Freedom Corps, and The Corporation for National and Community Service invites all Americans to participate in a series of events and programs to get us thinking, talking and teaching about the rights and responsibilities of citizens in our democracy. At the heart of this initiative are 100 milestone documents of American history. These documents reflect our diversity and our unity, our past and our future, and mostly our commitment as a nation to continue to strive to "form a more perfect union." Our Documents want everyone-students, teachers, parents, and the general public-to read these milestone documents, consider their meaning, discuss them, and decide which are the most significant and why. This initiative creates a number of ways to do that-through classroom activities and competitions, and votes. For more information go to http://www.ourdocuments.gov/
  

• The New York Times Learning Network Lesson Plan, developed in partnership with The Bank Street College of Education in New York City, as a part of its ongoing work is featuring "Exploring How American Presidents Have Dealt with Crises." Though a one hour lesson plan students will research past United States presidents'
  methods of confronting crises. They then write a State of the Union Address
  for that president in historical context. For the complete lesson plan, as well as other information on the site see http://www.nytimes.com/learning/

  February 10, 2003

• National Public Radio (NPR) has a been running its "Citizen Student" series on Morning Edition, reporting on how young people learn about citizenship. The most recent edition is "Teaching Patriotism in Time of War: Educators Approach Loyalty to Country in Different Ways." Parts of the series have aired during the first week of each month since November 2002. Segments have focused on student voting, bringing the First Amendment into the classroom, and the implications for civic education by extending the classroom into the community through volunteerism. For more information go to http://discover.npr.org/features/feature.jhtml?wfId=957688

  February 8, 2003

• The Civic Values Initiative (CIV) is the newest program at Princeton Project 55 (PP55), an independent organization founded in mid-1989 by members of the Princeton University Class of 1955. PP55 is an independent (501c(3)) organization whose mission is: "To mobilize alumni and students, and others who share our concerns, to provide civic leadership and to develop and implement solutions to systemic problems that affect the public interest." CIV's objective is to encourage the University to take intentional steps to assist students and others in the Princeton family to develop their civic values and civic competence, thus contributing purposefully to the nation's stock of civic capital in neighborhoods, communities, states, and at the federal and international levels. Further information on PP55 is available at http://www.project55.org

• In the recent article "Unsung Griots of American Painting" in Artcyclopedia, Joe Phelan, NACE member, writes about the African American painters who worked in the years before the Civil Rights Revolution of the 1960's. According to Phelan, these artists "turned to the despised and neglected genre in order to memorialize their people's long journey from slavery to freedom. They became, in Charlayne Hunter-Gault's fine phrase, the pictorial griot of [their] own African American community, griot being the African word for the village storyteller who passes on the history and tradition of his people" To read the article go to http://www.artcyclopedia.com/feature-2002-02.html

  February 7, 2003

• The Dirksen Congressional Center, a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization in Pekin, Illinois, is is providing educators with a variety of news and ideas to enhance civic education and improve the understanding of Congress. A few include:

  - Congress in the Classroom a national, award-winning education program designed for secondary school teachers and community college faculty who teach U.S. history, American government civics, political science, social studies, or related subjects. Between 30 and 35 teachers from throughout the country are selected each year to take part in the program. Nearly 200 applied for last year's workshop.

  The 2003 program theme will be "An Overview of Congress." Individual sessions will be offered on such topics as: (1) The case for representative democracy, (2) What you can learn about Congress Members from statistics, (3) How Members make decisions, (4) How does a bill become a law? Not the way the textbooks say, (5) How does one lead Congress? and (6) The Media and Congress. Participants will also gain experience with The Center's educational Web site, CongressLink - http://www.congresslink.org
  
  The workshop will take place from July 28 through July 31, 2003, on the campus of Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois. Congress in the Classroom. The deadline for applications is March 15, 2003. Enrollment is competitive and limited to thirty-five. Selection will be determined by The Center. Individuals will be notified of their acceptance status by April 1, 2003. To see what participants say about the program go to http://www.dirksencenter.org/progcongressinclassroom.htm#what. To complete an online registration form go to http://www.dirksencenter.org/CiCapplication.htm

  - To help your students learn about the powers of Congress and to understand how Congress, and the other two branches of the federal government, has exercised those powers given in the Constitution go to http://www.dirksencongressionalcenter.org

  - The Framers of the Constitution wanted to strengthen Congress. The Articles of Confederation did not give enough power to Congress to support the new nation. Find "The Powers of Congress" at http://www.aboutgovernment.org/legislativebranch.htm

  - The Center's CongressLink featured lesson plan offers an opportunity to present the powers of Congress creatively, allowing the students to justify which Congressional powers they believe are most important. Find "2, 4, 6, 8 . . . Who Knows What's in Article I, Section 8? (or Powers of Congress)" at http://www.congresslink.org/lessonplans/HCPowers.htm

  - The Dirksen Center's featured project this month is a WebQuest to introduce students to the concept of "influence" or "power" in Congress. Find "WebQuest: How Influential is Your Member of Congress?" at http://www.congresslink.org/WebQuests/CongressionalPowerIndex.htm

  February 6, 2003

• Street Law News Online: Volume 3, Fall/Winter 2002, contains the article "Building a Foundation for Democracy", a 1997 Street Law and the Open Society Institute project that gives young people in Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Mongolia the skills, knowledge and attitudes necessary to participate in a democratic society. The five-year project called for the introduction of educational strategies through which teachers could model democratic principles and encourage critical thinking and problem solving. Students exposed to this interactive learning environment would emerge from school equipped with the skills necessary to become engaged citizens. According to Bebs Chorak, director for the program, the project was important because these countries were just emerging from regimes that restricted access and understanding of the law to a chosen few, severely limiting citizen involvement in government. As the project draws to a close this year, hundreds of teachers-recently trained in the new teaching strategies-are piloting scores of new, highly interactive democracy education texts. To read the entire article, access the democratic education texts or learn more about Street Law go to http://www.streetlaw.org/newsletter/fall-winter_02/index.html

  February 5, 2003

• The National Forum for Black Public Administrators (NFBPA) is awarding a $5,000 scholarship to an African-American graduate or undergraduate student (junior) interested in pursuing a career in public service. Qualifications include: Full-time student; minimum 3.0 GPA; strong interpersonal skills, excellent writing analytical, and oral communication skills. Mail all college transcripts, 2 reference letters (at least one from a faculty member), and write a 3 page essay detailing his/her autobiography, career goals and objectives. Applications must be postmarked by February 21 and sent to: NFBPA Programs, 777 North Capitol Street, NE - Suite 807, Washington, DC 20002. For more information contact twellons@nfbpa.org

  February 4, 2003

• The recent article "Project 540: Students seeking more than a revolution" by Elizabeth Armstrong for The Christian Science Monitor, provides support to the goals of Project 540 to revive the civic mission of schools. In the article, Rick Battistoni, founder and director of Project 540 and a professor of political science at Providence College in Rhode Island, states "There's a real hunger among students to have a real voice, particularly in the schools and surrounding communities. But we're getting a sense that there's interest in the larger picture as well. We need their insights into what issues exist in their schools, communities, and the larger world to strengthen high schools." To read the complete article go to http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0128/p12s01-lecs.html
  

  February 3, 2003

• In March, The CivicMind, will begin a new feature on recent litigation which concerns national public issues, such as civil rights and the death penalty. If you have a specific public issue or case you would like to see featured, please send an email to TheCivicMind@aol.com. For a sample, see Current Cases at http://www.civicmind.com/lawsuit.htm.

  Also, The CivicMind Award recognizes The Connecticut Network, a non-profit broadcast service covering state government, for its innovative State Civics Toolbox. The online toolbox offers lesson plans and classroom activities for middle and high school students which use videotaped debates of bills before the Connecticut General Assembly. For more information, visit Civic Mind Award - Connecticut Network State Civics Toolbox at http://www.civicmind.com/wctnciv.htm
  

  February 1, 2003

• "Children of a Lesser State: Sustaining Global Inequality through Citizenship" written by Ayelet Schachar, is now available through The Jean Monnet Project at New York University's Law School. Much of this paper is concerned with a critical examination of how differing conceptions of citizenship may perpetuate global inequality across nations. As Professor Schachar notes in her introduction, "Perhaps the most dramatic consequences for children's lifelong prospects follow from the basic determination that any political community must make: defining which children that polity views and protects as its 'own.'" Throughout the remainder of the paper, Professor Schachar offers a broad range of material covering conceptions of citizenship, along with exploring ways in which children become members of their respective political communities.

  The Law School was established in 1990 to promote teaching in European integration, particularly in the fields of law, economics, political science, and history. As part of the Project's mission, they have an extensive archive of working papers dealing with these various topics.

  For more information go to http://www.jeanmonnetprogram.org/papers/03/030201.pdf