What's New in Civic Education and Youth Civic Engagement Work .... (February 2005 Archive Section)

February 28, 2005

• Figures of Democracy: Rhetoric, Authority, and Civil Culture Conference sponsored by the Department of Communication Studies, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada. October 21-22, 2005.
  
  What are the various ways that democracy can be enacted in speech? This conference invites scholars in Rhetoric, Communication, Law, and Political Theory to consider the various ways that democracy can figured, which is to say both imagined and instantiated in public discourse and symbolic action.
  
  Proposals for papers are welcome. Please email paper proposals, along with a one page statement of your research interests and recent publications, to the following e-mail address by March 4, 2005. For more information contact: charlan@alcor.concordia.ca.

  February 25, 2005

• The National Council for Voluntary Organisations and the Voluntary Sector (NCVO/VSSN) Researching the Voluntary Sector Conference announces the last chance to submit proposals -- due Friday March 4. This 11th conference will be held at the University of Warwick in the UK on August 31 and September 1, 2005. This conference is a unique meeting place for both researchers and users of research to discuss current research, its implications and the need for further research in the voluntary and community sector.
  

  Proposals are welcome on all areas of relevance to the voluntary sector, but would particularly welcome proposals on topics of current policy interest. Topics might include:

  - Philanthropy and Giving, including: donor motivation; measurement issues; funding issues; international comparison.

  - VCS/State Relations, including: independence; the role of the VCS in public service delivery; government funding of the VCS; new localism and its implications; compacts.

  - VCS Infrastructure and management, including: contracting and procurement; performance and outcome measurement; workforce and skills; VCOs use of ICT; ChangeUp and capacity building; volunteer management.

  - Civil renewal and active citizenship, including: the role of faith and BME groups in building communities; role of VCOs in building participation; non-governmental public action.

  - Public Policy, including: accountability and transparency; gender issues; charity law reform.

  How to submit your proposal: Abstracts of 400-600 words, for single papers or whole sessions should be sent to us at research@ncvo-vol.org.uk no later than Friday 4th March 2005. Authors will be notified of acceptance of their submissions by Friday 8th April 2005. Successful authors will need to submit papers of between 2000 and 2500 words (where relevant) by Friday 24th June 2005.
  
  In addition, a special session for "new" researchers will be held in conjunction with our colleagues at the Institute for Volunteering Research (IVR). The session is aimed at those who are relatively new to the field of voluntary sector research and is an opportunity to meet, discuss research and share ideas. If you would like to deliver a short presentation at this session either on a research topic, a methodological approach, or your experiences of carrying out research, please send a 200-400 word abstract to Angela Ellis at IVR (angela.ellis@volunteeringengland.org) by Friday 27th May 2005. You can attend the session either as part of the main conference, or simply this session free of charge.
  
  If you have any questions, or would like to know more about the conference, please email research@ncvo-vol.org.uk Also, see http://www.istr.org/ for information.

  February 24, 2005

• Emerging Repertoires of Political Action: A Review of the Debate on Participation Trends in Western Societies provides a summary of the debate regarding civic engagement. The paper is prepared by Dietlind Stolle, McGill Univeristy and Marc Hooghe, University of Leuven. It was presented at the ECPR Joint Sessions April 12-18, 2004 in Uppsala , Sweden .

  February 23, 2005

• Service-Learning Advances, the National Service-Learning Partnership's e-newsletter, announces the following:

  - Talking Smart About Service-Learning. Join us for our fourth annual meeting on Friday, March 18th at 5pm at the National Service-Learning Conference in Long Beach, CA.  We will discuss new strategies and tools for communicating effectively about service-learning. View our complete conference schedule for details on every Partnership conference event.
  
  - Service-Learning Summer Institutes. The Partnership is compiling a list of 2005 service-learning summer institutes. Please submit your organization's information to nslp@aed.org. The current list is available on the Partnership website.
  
  - Frank Newman Leadership Fund Seeking Donations. Frank Newman worked throughout his career to promote educational opportunity and to strengthen education for active and effective citizenship. The Frank Newman Leadership Fund has been established to continue Frank's legacy and will enable college students with demonstrated financial need and potential for leadership to receive financial assistance and mentoring. Your donation will help students who are dedicated to the public good remain in school and realize their full potential as future civic leaders.

  February 22, 2005

• The National Center for Learning and Citizenship shares a link to Education Commission of the State's analysis of State-Of-The-State Addresses, categorized by education issues. In addition to providing a look, by state and topic, at education-related proposals in governors' 2005 State-of-the State messages. It also includes a link to the full text of each governor's speech. Terry Pickeral, Executive Director of NCLC shares “It provides an opportunity to understand the education priorities for governors.  And while citizenship education and service-learning are not formally mentioned, I believe we can make the case for their importance within some of these priority areas.”

  February 21, 2005
  
• Public Education Network Weekly NewsBlast online resource announces the following:

  - EDUCATING EACH GENERATION FOR DEMOCRACY. Educating our youth for citizenship is our most important public work, affirm John Glenn and Marian Wright Edelman. We must purposefully nurture the value of service and civic engagement in each generation if our country is to be caring and just. This fundamental ideal depends on a well-informed citizenry that understands the importance of engagement in civic and political life. Restoring the civic purposes of education should be paramount in any serious public dialogue about education reform. In addition to making civic education a priority in elementary and secondary schools, we should expand the definition and measurement of student achievement to include students’ civic knowledge, skills, and contributions. For more go to:
  http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2005/02/16/23edelman.h24.html
  

  February 18, 2005

• The League of Women Voters Education Fund (LWVEF) has launched "Local Voices: Citizen Conversations on Civil Liberties and Secure Communities," an eight-month initiative that will foster public dialogue about the balance between civil liberties and homeland security.

  "In this post-September 11th world, it is critical for all communities to explore the relationship between these two important topics," said LWVEF Chair Kay J. Maxwell. "This effort builds on the League's role as a trusted convener of community discussions, as well as our traditional focus on the protection of our civil liberties. We are thrilled to begin work on Local Voices."

  The League will develop materials, train local facilitators, and encourage citizen participation in large League-led conversations about this topic. While all 900 local and state Leagues will have opportunities to work on this important topic, 10 select cities will be the focus of the LWVEF work on Local Voices. Representing ethnic, economic, and geographically diverse locations, the outcomes of the conversations in these locations will be gathered, analyzed, and compared with larger national trends. A final report will be released in Fall 2005 to coincide with the national debate about the sunset provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act… Washington, D.C., February 2005
  

  February 17, 2005

• Civic Education Targeted for Elimination. Among the 48 education programs targeted for elimination in President's Bush's 2005 budget is Civic Education ($29.4 million). Civic Education provides a single non-competitive award to the Center for Civic Education to conduct We the People, a program to improve the quality of civics and government education. Also makes non-competitive and competitive awards for the Cooperative Education Exchange, a program to improve civic and economic education through exchange programs. Request is consistent with the Administration's policy of terminating small categorical programs that have limited impact, and for which there is little or no evidence of effectiveness, to fund higher priority programs.

  February 16, 2005

• Understanding Civic Participation Through Autobiography:
  - Wendy Bay Lewis' new keynote speech and workshop on Civic Autobiography helps participants understand civic participation through their own civic experiences. Each person finds a different path to civic engagement, and some, like the CivicMind Award winners, are propelled toward a lifetime of commitment to activism, politics, and community service.
  

  February 15, 2005

• Service-Learning Advances, the National Service-Learning Partnership's e-newsletter, announces the following:

  - Partnership Annual Meeting. All are welcome to participate in a discussion on communicating effectively about service-learning. The meeting will be held during the National Service-Learning Conference on Friday March 19, 2005.

  - National Service-Learning Conference. March 16-19, 2005 in Long Beach, California.

  - Expert Advice on Service-Learning Partnerships. Barbara Holland's column "Building Successful Service Partnerships" offer techniques and tools for service-learning collaborations.

  Go to: http://www.service-learningpartnership.org/publications/sla_news.cfm
  

  February 14, 2005

• The League of Women Voters Turns 85: A Lifetime of Making Democracy Work. The League of Women Voters (LWVUS) celebrates its 85th birthday on February 14, 2005. Generations of engaged members and citizens have dedicated their lives to making democracy work since the League's founding in 1920. The League has been an important advocate in the fields of political reform and citizen engagement, and continues the vital push for changes that make our democracy stronger in the present... The League of Women Voters, Washington, D.C.

  February 10, 2005

• The Frank Newman Leadership Fund in honor of Frank Newman (1927-2004)

  Campus Compact, the Newman family, and Frank's many friends and admirers have established The Frank Newman Leadership Fund to enable college students with demonstrated financial need and potential for leadership to receive financial assistance and mentoring, and to have a significant experience in civic leadership during their college years. In addition to financial support, award recipients will receive essential guidance from campus staff and college presidents in attaining their educational and public service goals. Your donation will help students who are dedicated to the public good remain in school and realize their full potential as future civic leaders.

  For more information on the award, including how you may contribute to the fund, please go to http://www.compact.org/newscc/newman_leadership_fund.html.
  

  February 9, 2005

• The CivicMind would like to bring your attention to the article "The Civic Education of Juries." How can we be sure that growing up in a democratic society is enough to prepare ordinary citizens for jury duty? This article first appeared in Voir Dire, the journal of the American Board of Trial Advocates. Please send comments and inquiries to Wendy Bay Lewis at: TheCivicMind@aol.com.

  February 8, 2005

  Service-Learning Advances, the National Service-Learning Partnership's e-newsletter announces the following:

  - Service-Learning in Culminating and Senior Projects and Involving Students in Governance, developed by the Education Commission of the States, describes current efforts to use service-learning in new ways.

  February 4, 2005

• The 16th Annual National Service-Learning Conference is rapidly approaching, please be sure to register. February 16 is the last day to reserve rooms at special conference rates. After that date, rooms must be reserved directly from the hotels at full price. Rooms are still available at the several hotels all within three blocks of the Convention Center. Registration and room reservations can be done online at the conference website. Go to: https://programs.regweb.com/metro/nylc/registration/index.cfm?pagegridid=436072

  For more information call the Conference Hotline at (800) 366-6952.
  

  February 3, 2005

• The 11th Annual Georgetown Public Policy Institute's Student Conference will be held on February 4, 2005 at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Public Affairs Center, 1330 G Street, NW. This year's conference will focus on "Youth and Public Policy: To what extent does public policy develop, engage and serve youth in America and abroad?" Topics include:
  
  - International Perspectives: Youth and Unemployment - Causes, Problems, and Solutions
  - Youth and their Environment
  - DC, Guns, and Youth
  - Student Voices on Youth and Public Policy
  - Keeping the Youth Vote through Civic Engagement
  - Youth and Public Health
  - Head Start and the National Reporting System: Too early to test? Or too important not to test?
  

  This event is free and open to the public. Those who pre-register are given preference, after which seating is awarded on a first come, first served basis. For more information and to pre-register now, go to http://gppi.georgetown.edu/student_conference.
  

  February 2, 2005

• On March 14-16, 2005, Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates will host "Women as Global Leaders: Educating the Next Generation," an international student leadership conference, in Dubai, UAE. This conference will focus on the emerging roles young women will play as the next generation of leaders in their respective countries focusing on leadership education.

  Zayed University welcomes participation in the conference from female students, both undergraduate and graduate, and educators and leadership practitioners of both genders. They expect to have students in attendance from more than thirty countries, with representation from the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Asian subcontinent, the Far East and the Middle East. Conference activities include public talks, papers, presentations, simulations and interactive workshops, as well as a number of social events such as a desert barbecue and gala dinner. All sessions and activities will be in English.

  Reminder: Proposals for presentations, panels, and workshops are due today, February 1st. After that date, submissions will be accepted according to space availability. Please take a minute to visit the conference Web site at http://www.zuglobaleaders.org. A limited number of rooms are reserved at preferred conference hotels, which can be held only until February 15. For more information or questions contact: info@zuglobaleaders.org.
  

  February 1, 2005

• Due to technical difficulties last month, NACE was unable to post the CivicMind Award in January. The Institute for Civic Leadership, Mills College received this award. The Institute for Civic Leadership is an annual semester program in civic leadership for 15 undergraduate women from colleges across the country that combines academic classes, internships with community organizations, and mentoring by outstanding women leaders. NACE would also like to congratulate The CivicMind for its 50th milestone of granting this award.

  January 31, 2005

• Reminder:
  - The MindOH! Foundation's fourth annual Character's Cool Contest will be accepting entries January 1st through the 31st in 2005. The contest is a national online contest to help middle and high school students reflect on what it means to have good character. Students can fill out the online survey to win prizes such as a Nintendo Game Cube, a portable CD/MP3 player, gift certificates, games or sports memorabilia. Students can also enter the essay contest to win cash prizes of $500 for first place, $250 for second place and $175 for third place. The school with the most survey entries wins the grand prize of a new computer and a one-year subscription to MindOH!'s Discipline and Life Skills Series. The second place school receives Project Wisdom's character education materials. For more information e-mail, contests@mindohfoundation.org or visit: http://www.mindohfoundation.org/contest.