Two practices in education--community-based learning and deliberative democratic discourse--have been lauded as highly effective in instilling democratic values in students and preparing them to be active citizens. Both practices have the potential to facilitate the formation of publics in the Deweyan understanding--the building block of…

Background: Social responsibility and democratic citizenship are essential outcomes of a college education. Yet limited research has examined how college experiences may relate to students' moral and prosocial development, qualities that ground responsibility and citizenship. Purpose: This research sought to identify the college experiences,…

Service to others plays a key role in the development of one's worldview. To study this key role, authors examined a sample of 38 student narratives in three phases: before, during, and 45 days after they served at an alternative break site around the United States. Students kept a prompt-based journal inspired by the tenets of the social change…

I propose an approach to service-learning that encourages and enables students to engage with human rights and social justice in ways that are democratic and effective. I describe a teaching process in which civic action can be critically reflected on not just to promote engagement and build knowledge but ultimately to encourage and equip students…

In a September 2013 interview, Thomas Ehrlich and Ernestine Fu--whose passion for public service is manifested in differing ways and from two dramatically different generational standpoints--discussed insights from their co-authored book, "Civic Work, Civic Lessons: Two Generations Reflect on Public Service (2013)." Septuagenarian Tom…

Civic competence is critical to the successful functioning of pluralistic democracies. Developing the knowledge, skills, and motivations for effective democratic participation is a national and global imperative that many higher education institutions have embraced through the teaching strategies of community-based learning and service-learning.…

This study considered the impact of the SERVE Program upon participating college students' belief in the American Dream. The SERVE Program is a community service learning program sponsored by the philosophy and theology departments at Ignatius University. Using a mixed methods approach, the authors found that participating students demonstrated…

Over the past three years, 183 campuses have joined the American Association of State Colleges and Universities' American Democracy Project. Originally intended as a three-year initiative involving a score of schools, the response exceeded all expectations, and the project has been extended well beyond the initial timeframe. This fall Campus…

Young people in the United States today are much more likely to be involved in volunteer work of an apolitical sort than in politics. As part of a study on political engagement, the author and other colleagues surveyed students at a diversity of colleges and universities and asked them why they and many of their peers are so much more likely to…

John Dewey's "Democracy and Education" suggests an approach to civic education using techniques commonly adopted in today's undergraduate education, including community service, problem solving, and collaborative learning. Community service is an important way to foster civic engagement in young Americans. If American higher education is…

This collection of seven essays focuses on programs that attempt to increase undergraduates' understanding of social differences while building a sense of campus community. "Democracy and Difference: Emerging Concepts of Identity, Diversity, and Community" (Richard Guarasci and Grant H. Cornwell) outlines the essential argument for a new…

This report provides brief descriptions of 83 practices followed by college campuses to educate students to be active, involved citizens and to engage their institutions with their communities. The summaries, arranged alphabetically by school, were prepared by Campus Compact member presidents. A "table of contents" groups practices into the…

The purpose of this article is to present empirical evidence suggesting the potential benefits of systematically utilizing general education as the institutional foundation for an integrated, multidisciplinary learning environment expressly dedicated to the promotion of civic engagement. Recently, the authors conducted an assessment of student…

Examines human qualities that undergird citizens' commitment to the common good in diverse societies, suggesting that community service fosters such qualities. Planned interactions across social barriers are necessary to develop qualities of citizenship for pluralistic nations. (SM)