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

March 31, 2003

• Taking Partnerships to a New Level: Achieving Outcomes, Sustaining Change cosponsored by Community-Campus Partnerships for Health and the Corporation for National and Community Service will be held on April 26-29, 20003 in San Diego. The annual conference will demonstrate the significant outcomes and changes that can result from community-campus partnerships, and advance the skills, tools and competencies needed to transform partnerships "to a new level." "A new level" is something that each partnership needs to define for itself. For example, perhaps "a new level" of a service-learning partnership might be to involve students from multiple disciplines, or to incorporate community-based research into the partnership's work or to develop a campus center for service-learning. "A new level" for a partnership that is aiming to eliminate health disparities in communities of color might be to connect the partnership's work to efforts to recruit and retain students of color into the health professions. David Satcher, former US Surgeon General, will be the conference opening keynote speaker. Dr. Satcher now directs the National Center for Primary Care at Morehouse Medical College in Atlanta. Also speaking is Bookda Gheisar, executive director of A Territory Resource, a public foundation that supports activist, community-based organizations working for social, economic, and environmental justice in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.

  The last date for advanced registration is April 21, 2003; hotel reservations by March 24, 2003. For more information go to http://futurehealth.ucsf.edu/ccph/nationalconference.html
  

  March 28, 2003

• The Journal of Policy History has issued a call for papers for a Conference on Policy History to be held in at the Sheraton Clayton Plaza in St. Louis, May 20 - May 23, 2004. Program chairs are Suzanne Mettler and Julian Zelizer. All topics concerning the history, development and implementation of public policy, as well as American political development, broadly conceived will be considered. Complete sessions are encouraged, but individual paper proposals are welcome. The deadline for proposals is September 15, 2003, and review of proposals will begin October 1, 2003. Please send two (2) copies of proposals, including a one-page summary of each paper(s) and a C.V. of each panelist to Policy Conference, Journal of Policy History, Saint Louis University, 3800 Lindell Blvd. P.O. Box 56907, St. Louis, MO 63156-0907.

  For more information go to http://www.slu.edu/departments/jph/allforpapers.htm. For the program of the 2002 Policy History Conference, please visit our website http://www.slu.edu/departmens/jph and click on 2002 Policy History Conference Program.
  

  March 27, 2003

• The New York Times Learning Network Lesson Plan, developed in partnership with The Bank Street College of Education in New York City, presents " Give Me Liberty or Give Me Freedom: Analyzing the History, Culture, and Politics of the Words " This one hour lesson plan, based on The New York Times article "Freedom: More Than Just Another Word for Nothing Left to Lose" by Geoffrey Nunberg, allows students to examine the ways in which the terms "liberty" and "freedom" have been used in the United States in various historical, cultural, and political contexts. After researching and analyzing quotations from the past and present, students create an illustrated timeline to display in the classroom. 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/20030324monday.html
  

  March 25, 2003

• The VoxPop conference Locating and Constructing the "Voice of the People," to be held at the University of South Carolina has issued a call for papers. The conference invites a wide-ranging interrogation of the idea of the voice of the people by scholars from a range of fields. It will consider the multitudes of peoples and voices that have come under the heading of vox populi, from the ancient populus or hoi polloi to the various "Peoples" of modern nationalism (das Volk, le peuple, narod), and from folksong to political discourse to "the writing on the wall." A few possible points of orientation and approaches include:
  - issues of (dis)enfranchisement, literature and democracy, representation in government
  - national and ethnic identity; heritage as tradition or invention
  - questions of power and authority: what gives the vox pop legitimacy?
  - Information technologies and the way they have inflected ideas of popular expression

  For more information go to http://www.cla.sc.edu/CPLT/activities/index.html
  

  March 24, 2003

• The Pew Internet & American Life Project has just released "Untuned Keyboards: Online campaigners, citizens, and portals in the 2002 elections", written together with the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet at The George Washington University. A summary of the report, the full text of the report may be accessed at http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=85

• The Society for the History of Children and Youth invites participants to its Bi-Annual Conference, June 26-29, 2003. This year's theme is "Childhood and the State--The State of Childhood." The meeting will be held at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland.

  The campus is conveniently located near Baltimore-Washington International Airport, just off Interstate I-95, about 30 miles north of Washington, D.C. UMBC is a short taxi cab ride from the airport. The BWI AMTRAK station is also close to the campus. Taxis are also readily available at that location.

  Registration information is available online through the H-Childhood website at http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~child/ or directly http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~child/conference03/conferenceinfo03.htm
  

  March 20, 2003

• This month's "Education News Parent Can Use," part of the U.S. Department of Education's monthly television show which was broadcast on March 18, informed parents and teachers on ways to develop student's citizenship skills, promote strong character development and understand the value of volunteerism and service.

  Several NACE members were part of the broadcast. Guests included Charles Quigley, executive director and founder of the Center for Civic Education; Darcia Narvaez, associate professor of psychology at Notre Dame; Patrick McEvoy, principal of Maplewood-Richmond Heights Senior High School in St. Louis; and Nicole Tiggs, student council president at Maplewood-Richmond Heights Senior High. Also, Sara Leven, service learning coordinator at Nicolas Senn High School in Chicago; Sam Chaltain, coordinator of the First Amendment Schools initiative at the First Amendment Center; Robert Gibbs, a senior law partner and chapter president of the 100 Black Men organization of Jackson, Miss., and Amy Cohen, director of Learn and Serve America at the Corporation for National and Community Service.

  The show also featured a conversation between U.S. Secretary of Education Roderick Paige and D.C. civic leader and former Washington Redskin Darrell Green about citizenship, service and his recent appointment as the chair of the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation.

  Secretary Paige said, "One goal of American education has always been to create active, involved citizens. Now, more than ever, our students need to learn how to participate responsibly in our free society and to serve their communities…Parents will find this program useful in learning ways of promoting citizenship, service and character among their children."

  Among the topics to be covered were: What is a good citizen? What values and character traits help define good citizenship? What can we do in schools, the home and the community to teach and reinforce civic virtues, our democratic traditions and a sense of civic pride? What is the latest research on character education programs and how can character be effectively taught in schools? How can the community offer opportunities for moral and democratic action by young citizens? How is serving others part of being a "person of character"? Where can I find more information on school, community and faith-based organizations dedicated to advancing the president's goals of volunteerism and service to country? What can I do in the home and community to help my children develop strong character and become good citizens?

  Go to http://www.connectlive.com/events/ednews/
  

• VolunteerMatch, a project of YouthNOISE, announces volunteer number one million! On its website, it states that more people like eighth-grader Sophia Wu are now volunteering their time. When Wu logged on to VolunteerMatch, a referral service that matches willing volunteers up with organizations in need, the student became their one-millionth volunteer. Wu signed up to raise funds for the American Cancer Society next summer.

  The site quotes Wu, "I found VolunteerMatch and thought it was very helpful. It's a much easier way to find a place to volunteer [and] important to help out your community or volunteer because not everyone is as lucky as us, and we should give a helping hand to those who aren't…It takes a lot of people and time to make a good community, so citizens should lend a helping hand in the efforts of making a better place to live." Whatever your strengths and interests, VolunteerMatch will send you away with tons of ideas and contacts for service in your community.

  To become involved or learn more go to YouthNOISE at http://www.youthnoise.com/site/CDA/CDA_Page/0,1004,1294,00.html
  

  March 19, 2003

• The new book, Political Scientist's Struggle for the Social Studies Curriculum, by Iftikhar Ahmad, addresses issues regarding citizenship education and the preparation of thoughtful and caring citizens. The book examines ensuring that our educational system produces good citizens and asks what knowledge is of most worth in pre-collegiate citizenship education. It also looks at how we can have a meaningful conversation about the issues without understanding the political agendas that have fed the process. More information on the book is available from American-Book Publishing, Utah at http://www.american-book.com/

• The recent article "Reduction in Civics Classes Mirrors Decline in Youth Vote" by Karla Kingsley for The Boston Globe reports that "young people in the United States are active and involved in their communities, but they aren't turning out to vote as young adults did a generation ago." According to the article, Alison Byrne Fields, author of the report and former chief strategist for Rock the Vote, said "youth today are organizing more than ever around issues in their communities to promote change and are volunteering at higher levels than before. It's not that they don't want to see change... They are rejecting traditional political processes as a way to achieve this change.'' Cynthia Gibson, program officer of Carnegie Corporation's Strengthening U.S. Democracy program, says "civic education has been ''placed on the back burner'' as other subjects are emphasized with increasing test requirements." The article is, in part, based on the report The Youth Challenge: Participating in Democracy, released by the Carnegie Corporation which "calls for a two-pronged approach to combat the problem: having schools provide a broad civic education, as well as getting political candidates to address areas important to young voters." To read the article go to
  http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/075/learning/Reduction_in_civics_classes_mirrors_decline_in_youth_vote+.shtml
  

  March 18, 2003

• The new report, The Youth Challenge: Participating in Democracy, has just been released by the Carnegie Corporation. Based on data from The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), voter turnout among 18- to 24-year-olds has declined by 13 percent since 1972, when the voting age was lowered, while those older than 25 are voting at the same rate. At the same time, "youth are volunteering at higher numbers today than in previous generations…working together across lines of ethnic and racial difference…[and] finding innovative ways to express their ideas and organize their communities." Yet, the problem is the disconnect between this action and voting. To address the issue, the report calls for having schools provide a broad civic education and getting political candidates to address areas important to young voters. To read the entire report go to http://www.carnegie.org

  March 17, 2003

• The Dirksen Congressional Center invites high school and college faculty to attend Congress in the Classroom 2003, a national, award-winning education program now in its eleventh year. The program is sponsored by The Dirksen Congressional Center located in Pekin, Illinois, in cooperation with Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois, and is dedicated to the exchange of ideas and information on teaching about Congress. Congress in the Classroom is designed for secondary school teachers and community college faculty who teach U.S. history, American government civics, political science, social studies, or related subjects.

  The 2003 program theme will be "An Overview of Congress." Individual sessions and presenters for the program can be viewed at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/progcongressinclassroom.htm#titles

  The workshop will take place from July 28 through July 31, 2003, on the campus of Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois. Congress in the Classroom is free to participants. Those teachers who are not selected for the program will have an opportunity to register for the Web-based Congress in the Classroom course.

  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. For more information go to
  http://www.dirksencenter.org/progcongressinclassroom.htm If you are interested in registering for workshop, go to http://www.dirksencenter.org/CiCapplication.htm

• Investigate Everything: Federal Efforts to Compel Black Loyalty During World War I written by Theodore Konweibel, Jr. is now available through Bloomington: University of Indiana Press. A review for H-Pol by John H. Barnhill indicates that, "Kornweibel meets the standard for an exceptional study covering a painful period. He provides context, comparing the black experience with those of organized labor, immigrants and radicals…[it is a] solid work that will contribute to the effort to broaden our understanding of World War I on the homefront."
  
  

  March 13, 2003

• The Dirksen Center will distribute $35,862 in Congressional Research Awards to eleven projects in 2003. Since 1978, The Center has awarded over $585,000 to more than 315 research projects. According to Center staff member Frank Mackaman, political scientists will use the grants to study such topics as congressional intervention in defense budgeting, congressional oversight of the executive branch, and campaigns for the U.S. House. Historians will explore the culture of violence in Congress in the antebellum years and the influence of incumbents in selecting congressional candidates at the turn of the 20th century.

  Recipients this year include PhD candidates and faculty from the University of CA at Berkeley, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, North Carolina State University, Yale University, the University of Iowa, and Michigan State University, among others.

  A complete list of this year's Congressional Research Award recipients is posted at http://www.dirksencenter.org/grantcongresearchaward.htm.

  The Dirksen Center is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization in Pekin, Illinois, that seeks to improve civic engagement by promoting a better understanding of Congress and its leaders through archival, research, and educational programs.
  

  March 12, 2003

• Two articles are now available online from the Progressive Policy Institute:
  - "Uncle Sam Wants You … For 18 Months" by Marc Magee and Steven J. Nider argues that meeting the new challenges to our collective security as one nation does not require a return of the draft, but does require a strong and sustained effort to bring a greater cross-section of Americans into our all-volunteer force.
  - "A U-Turn on National Service" by Marc Magee indicates that despite President Bush's promise to expand opportunities for service, congressional Republicans appropriated restrictive funding levels and imposed a membership cap that will almost surely lead to a sharp decline in the number of Americans serving in AmeriCorps in the upcoming year.

  To read these articles and others go to http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ka.cfm?knlgAreaID=115
  

  March 11, 2003

• The recent article "Colleges Fail to Foster Students' Moral and Civic Development" by Megan Rooney for The Chronicle of Higher Education, reports that "American higher education has not met the challenge of nurturing the civic and moral development of students, though many institutions are making strides toward integrating civic education into everyday life on their campuses." The article is based on the recently released report "Educating Citizens: Preparing America's Undergraduates for Lives of Moral and Civic Responsibility," by the Carnegie Foundation.

  Ms. Rooney quotes Anne Colby, one of the reports authors, "A lot of people don't think there's any character development left to occur by the time students get to college. Actually, the college years can be a pivotal time for moral and civic development. Students can learn to think more clearly about challenging moral issues, become capable of understanding the complexities of the political world, and gain a sense of purpose and meaning in their personal, professional, and intellectual lives."

  The researchers conclude, that no college has yet found a way to integrate civic education into every aspect of a student's experience on campus. "Some colleges offer ethics courses, and virtually all have volunteer community-service programs, but the problem is these programs mostly reach the students who seek them out and therefore need them the least," Ms. Colby said. "Most students can go through their entire college experience without being engaged in these activities." To read the entire article go to http://www.chronicle.com/.
  

  March 10, 2003

• The recent article, "Schools Seek Balance as Students Join War Debate," by Sam Dillon for The New York Times, describes how in classrooms around the country, teachers are struggling to maintain academic decorum while encouraging students to discuss world events that are dividing adults. To read the entire article go to http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/07/education/07SCHO.html?ex=1048073964&ei=1&en=317e05562d2525a1

• The Carnegie Foundation has released "Educating Citizens: Preparing America's Undergraduates for Lives of Moral and Civic Responsibility" a culmination of a three-year study. Looking at more than 100 colleges and universities and focusing in detail on 12, the publication reports on how these institutions are preparing thoughtful, committed and socially responsible graduates. Many of these institutions assert these ambitions, but too few act on them. The authors demonstrate the fundamental importance of moral and civic education, describe how the historical and contemporary landscapes of higher education have shaped it, and explain the educational and developmental goals and processes involved in educating citizens. They examine the challenges colleges and universities face when they dedicated themselves to this vital task and present concrete ways to overcome those challenges. To order the book, go to http://www.josseybass.com.

• Just a reminder about a previous What's New announcement. 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 from February 7 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

  March 7 , 2003

• The NewYorkUnionSemester Program is now accepting applications for the Fall 2003 program. An academic internship program offered by Queens College/CUNY, NewYorkUnion Semester gives students the opportunity to intern with a labor union in New York City while taking labor studies classes at Queens College's Mid-Manhattan campus. Students earn 12 to 16 credits, receive a $210 weekly stipend and are awarded a $1700 tuition scholarship. Both undergraduates and recent college graduates are eligible to apply.

  NewYorkUnionSemester seeks students from all majors and backgrounds who have an interest in social and economic justice and a passion for learning. Prior activist or union experience is not required. Undergraduates must have completed at least 45 credits, and possess a GPA of at least 2.5. Recent college graduates must possess a GPA of at least 3.0 and may receive graduate credit for their participation. Current students are involved in campaigns with local unions and community organizations such as UNITE, Transport Workers Union Local 100 and Citizen Action! Past participating organizations have included the SEIU Local 1199, the National Employment Law Project, ACORN and Jobs with Justice.

  The application deadline for Fall 2003 is April 15th. For more information and an application visit the website at http://www.qc.edu/unionsemester or contact Johanna Jones, the Program Coordinator at 212-827-0200 or email unionsemester@qc.edu.
  

  March 6 , 2003

• The upcoming conference at Yale Law School in New Haven, Connecticut, "Democracy in the Digital Age" is looking for additional exhibitors who can demonstrate digital democracy technology. The conference, which is being organized by the Information Society Project at Yale Law School and its Democracy Design Workshop, is bringing together experts in democratic theory, practice and design April 4 through 6 to discuss the impact of new technology and media on democratic political culture. The conference will examine prospects for the participatory and deliberative activities of democracy on-line and off, including: community and group formation, deliberation and decision making, citizen participation and consultation, public discourse and the alternative discourse of protest and resistance in the digital age.

  Exhibiting is free, and coffee breaks are scheduled for the exhibit room, so traffic should be easy to achieve. The event features a keynote address by Benjamin Barber and a number of exciting panelists such as Jim Fishkin, John Gastil and Beth Noveck. For more info about attending or exhibiting, email Mr. Robert Heverley, Fellow at the Information Society Project, at Robert.Heverly@yale.edu, or go to http://www.law.yale.edu/isp/democracy_conference_main.html.
  

  March 4, 2003

• Thataway.org has added a community section to their website (home of of Dialogue to Action and the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation). A sample includes:
  - Digital Democracy Conference Seeks Demonstrators and Participants
  - New CIRCLE Report Emphasizes Need for Civic Education and Engagement in Schools
  - National Youth Dialogue on Peace and Violence in Progress
  - National Civic League to Host Innovative Electoral Reform Conference
  For more information go to http://www.thataway.org/dialogue/com/com_intro.htm
  

• The New York Times Learning Network Lesson Plan, developed in partnership with The Bank Street College of Education in New York City, presents "Power to the People: Exploring Challenges to the Constitutional Right to Protest." This one hour lesson plan, based on The New York Times article "How Protesters Mobilized" by Jennifer Lee, allows students to explore landmark Supreme Court cases that have challenged the First Amendment right of the people to assemble peaceably. They then create communication campaigns appropriate to the time that urge fellow protesters to a peaceful assembly. 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/20030303monday.html

  March 3 , 2003

• National Youth Service Day (NYSD), through Youth Service America with the National Youth Leadership Council, will occur on April 11-13, 2003. NYSD is the largest service event in the world, mobilizing millions of young Americans to identify and address the needs of their communities through service. National Youth Service Day is also an opportunity to recruit the next generation of volunteers and educate the public about the role of youth as community leaders. For more information go to http://www.ysa.org