eJournal of Public Affairs: New CLDE17 Issue

We’re thrilled to unveil the latest issue of the eJournal of Public Affairs, a collaboration between Missouri State University and AASCU’s American Democracy Project. This issue features content from the 2017 Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement meeting in Baltimore, Md. organized by ADP, TDC, and NASPA’s LEAD Initiative.

Issue 7.1 of the eJournal of Public Affairs is what we’re reading!

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Intro Essay: Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement

By Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, National Manager, American Democracy Project, AASCU; Stephanie King, Assistant Director for Civic Engagement, Knowledge Community, and Social Justice Initiatives, NASPA; and Verdis Robinson National Director, The Democracy Commitment
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Articles

Collaborative Engagement from within the Academy: A Self-Reflexive Narrative

By Danielle L. Lake, Grand Valley State University
This essay builds upon the current movement around publicly engaged scholarship, seeking to illuminate its challenges, risks, and rewards through a…

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Enhancing Civic, Electoral, and Political Engagement Through International Student Inclusion

By Adrienne McNally, New York Institute of Technology
International students are often overlooked in the typical civic engagement activities of colleges and universities. However, including international students in such…

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College Student Food Insecurity and Awareness and Use of Supports: Recent Findings from a Survey of Students at a Mid-Sized State Comprehensive University in Kansas

By Brett Zollinger, Fort Hays State University; Shala Mills, State University of New York at New Paltz; Emily Brandt and Wendy Rohleder-Sook Fort Hays State University Recognition of food…

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Invited Essay: Educating for Democracy in Undemocratic Contexts: Avoiding the Zero-Sum Game of Campus Free Speech Versus Inclusion

By Nancy Thomas, Tufts University
The debate over free speech and inclusion in higher education is not new, but it has reached new levels of vitriol and confusion as…

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Bridging Civic Engagement to Civic Responsibility Through Short-Term, International Service-Learning Experiences: A Qualitative Analysis of Student Reflections

By Stephanie Malinenko, Justine Tutuska, and Lynn Matthews, Daemen College
Written reflection is a tool commonly used by faculty to assess student learning in service-learning courses, which are frequently…

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Reviews

Book Review: Teaching Civic Engagement Across the Disciplines

By Melanie Nichole Burdick, Washburn University
Teaching Civic Engagement Across the Disciplines. Edited by Elizabeth C. Matto, Alison Rios Millett McCartney, Elizabeth A. Bennion, and Dick Simpson. Washington, DC: American Political…

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Book Review: You’re More Powerful Than You Think: A Citizen’s Guide to Making Change Happen

By Derek W. M. Barker, Kettering Foundation
You’re More Powerful Than You Think: A Citizen’s Guide to Making Change Happen. By Eric Liu. New York: Public Affairs. 2017. ISBN: 9781610397070. 256 pages.…
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Features

Invited Commentary: Democratic Engagement and Community Engagement: The American Democracy Project at California State University San Marcos

By Scott Gross, Kimber M. Quinney, and Catalina Langen, California State University San Marcos
The American Democracy Project (ADP) at California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) is unique in…

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Food Pantry Making a Difference for FHSU Students

By Chase Willhite, Kansas Health Foundation
Across Kansas, as students like Shane Keller face increasing economic challenges, food insecurity becomes an issue. But, with the help of a Kansas Health…

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CivEd Talks – Doing Civic Engagement through a Wicked Problems Lens: The Case for Passionate Impartiality

By Martín Carcasson
Amid perhaps the most polarized time in our nation’s history, the quality of public discourse has also reached historic lows. Civic engagement practitioners must find ways to…

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CivEd Talks – Millennial Conservatism and Civic Engagement: No, Really, What Do Young Conservatives Want?

By Jane Coaston
Young conservatives are here to stay, and in 2016, they voted in higher numbers — and exhibited higher engagement with candidates and issues — than they had…

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CivEd Talks – Citizen Power

By Eric Liu
Far too many Americans are illiterate in power – what it is, how it operates, why some individuals have more than others. As a result, those few…

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What We’re Reading: New Civic Deserts Report

Do You Live in a Civic Desert? 

““Civic Deserts” — communities without opportunities for civic engagement — are increasingly common in the United States. The continued decline in a wide range of important indicators of civic health and connectivity threatens our prosperity, safety, and democracy.” (p. 4)

A new report “Civic Deserts: America’s Civic Health Challenges” was released last week at the 2017 annual NCoC conference. The report by Matthew N. Atwell, John Bridgeland and Peter Levine was produced in partnership with Civic Enterprises, the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University, the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, and the MCJ Amelior Foundation.

Some of the findings highlighted in the report include:

• “28 percent of Americans say that they belong to any group that has leaders whom they consider both accountable and inclusive” (p. 4)
• “From 1974 to 2004, membership in at least one community organization or group had decreased by more than 13 percentage points.” (p. 4)
• The report estimates that 60% of rural young Americans and almost a third of urban and suburban Americans perceive their communities to be civic deserts
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• “Both American history education and civics education have been largely stagnant in participation and achievement since the 1990s;
• The percent of Americans who read a newspaper every day has declined in tandem with dwindling rates of trust in all forms of news media;
• Confidence in all branches of government continued to decline, as turnout in both presidential and congressional elections dropped in 2016 and 2014, respectively;
• The percent of Americans who spend time online and use social media platforms continued to rise, raising the possibility of the potential of new technologies to bolster civic engagement in new ways; and
• Volunteering in the United States has fallen significantly from nearly 30 percent of the population in 2005 to less than 25 percent in 2015.” (p. 6)

 

 

 

New Resource: Democratic Engagement Planning Toolkit

ADP is proud to have played a role in the crafting of a new campus resource — a toolkit for crafting campus plans for increasing college student civic learning, nonpartisan political engagement, and voting rates. As a member of the Students Learn Students Vote Coalition, we hope you’ll find this new resource helpful and look forward to hearing from you about how you use it and what could be added to make it even better!

Strengthening American Democracy: 
A Guide for Developing an Action Plan to Increase Civic Learning, Political Engagement, and Voting Rates Among College Students

This is a tool designed to help faculty, staff, and students write strong action plans to increase civic learning, democratic engagement, and voting rates among college students. It provides a framework for developing and documenting institutional goals and strategies. It is not meant to be prescriptive and should be adapted to your institutional context.

 

What We’re Reading: Engaging Civic Engagement

Chad Woolard, Ph.D., is an instructional assistant professor in the school of communication at Illinois State University and a long-time ADP supporter. His new book, Engaging Civic Engagement: Framing The Civic Education Movement In Higher Education (Lexington Books, 2017) is what we’re busy reading.

According to Chad, his new book asks:

What is civic engagement? That is the central question that every person who promotes civic education must answer to advocate for civic engagement and teach students’ civic and political engagement skills. However, the answer to that central question is often difficult because there are numerous, competing definitions of civic engagement. For new practitioners, gaining an understanding of civic education can be overwhelming; and for season practitioner, it is difficult to articulate civic education to administrators and practitioners beyond one’s own civic education perspective. Engaging Civic Engagement: Framing The Civic Education Movement In Higher Education provides an unique and much needed analysis of the various perspectives on civic education and identifies points of agreement and disagreement among civic education scholars and is useful for anyone who is interested in or advocates civic education in higher education.

Learn more about the book in this flyer.

Use code LEX30AUTH17 for a special 30% discount on this book through 9/1/2018.

What We’re Reading: New Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement Issue

We recommend reading the latest issue of the Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement (JHEOE), a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary journal  published by the University of Georgia. JHEOE is dedicated to advancing theory and practice related to outreach and engagement between higher education and communities.

In the latest issue, volume 21, No. 2, JHEOE authors address opposing perspectives on the purpose of engagement and tensions and contradictions in the relationships between communities and universities, among many other topics. Authors view community engagement from multiple conceptual perspectives, including community-based learning, collaborative relationships and faculty development and engagement as a strategy for justice. The reflective essays, research articles, projects, and book reviews in this issue provide new insight into challenges and explore problems to an even greater depth.

The journal is available here.

Reflective Essays:

• The Concept and Context of the Engaged University in the Global South: Lessons from Latin America to Guide a Research Agenda (Susan Appe, Nadia Rubaii, Sebastian Líppez-De Castro, Stephen Capobianco)
• University-Community Partnership Models: Employing Organizational Management Theories of Paradox and Strategic Contradiction (Amanda Marie Bowers)

Research Articles:

• A Prestudy Curricula-as-Research Model for Scholarship of Engagement: Combining Continuous Service with Discontinuous Learning (Sherrie Steiner)
• Undergraduate Learning through Engaged Scholarship and University-Community Partnerships (Kristen Tarantino)
• Faculty Development for Advancing Community Engagement in Higher Education: Current Trends and Future Directions (Marshall Welch, Star Plaxton-Moore)

Projects with Promise:

• Evolution of a Social Media-Driven Campus-Community Partnership: Collaborative Learning at The Knowledge Café (Susan A. Baim)
• Evaluating Reactions to Community Bridge Initiative Pilot Classes (Julie Koldewyn, Roslynn Brain, Kate Stephens)

Book Reviews:

• Academics Going Public: How to Write and Speak Beyond Academe (Kristina Killgrove)
• Engaging in Social Partnerships: Democratic Practices for Campus-Community Partnerships (Frank A. Fear)
• Educating for Civic-Mindedness: Nurturing Authentic Professional Identities Through Transformative Higher Education (Novella Zett Keith)