This article offers a model of how to construct a course that makes the abstract principles of the Catholic social tradition more concrete through community-service learning (CSL). Primary source readings from scripture, the Apostolic Fathers, Thomas Aquinas, and the major documents of Catholic social thought provide the academic theory of the…

Youth engagement is the meaningful and sustained involvement of young people in efforts to create positive social change. This approach requires youth-serving organizations to rebalance traditional power dynamics between adults and young people, allowing youths to take on decision-making responsibilities. Collective impact initiatives such as…

Critical service learning is an approach that works toward social transformation and egalitarian partnerships. However, the ways in which space facilitates or undermines this approach has been largely unexplored. Drawing on a case study from an urban education course, we argue that a critical geography framework can develop students'…

The University of Pittsburgh Office of Child Development (OCD) has practiced university-community engagement activities for 30 years. This has included hundreds of specific projects conducted with community partners, all funded by outside grants. Based on our experience, we describe some lessons learned regarding the operation of a…

To support the work of service-learning and community engagement (SLCE) being done in a high-quality, sustainable way, ("Combining Service and Learning: A Resource Book for Community and Public Service"), Kendall offered three Principles of Good Practice: (1) integrating service-learning programs into the central mission and goals of the…

Digital media play an increasingly dominant role in reinforcing and challenging power inequality in social and institutional relationships. This paper describes how a service-learning component engaged students in community-based interactions that not only deepened their understanding of course content but also increased their commitment to…

In response to increasing homelessness in our city, Seattle Pacific University invited a homeless encampment (Tent City) to reside on our university campus for three months. This provided an opportunity to engage students on issues of poverty and inequality. Building from a service-learning model, we devised course work around homelessness and…

This study approaches service-learning through a critical dramatistic perspective. Erving Goffman's concept of human interactions as staged performances combines with the structuration of race- and class-based power hierarchies to provide a theoretical framework for examining the interaction patterns between African-American college student…

The community literacy program of Western District Adult Basic Education in Georgia was examined to demonstrate how the meaning and value of literacy is a function of specific local institutions. The goal of the examination was to theorize literacy by constructing a localized framework for understanding literacy within a given institution in order…