This text suggests a way of framing academic work and outlines a design for a preparatory event based on this understanding. It conceives academic work as "practical activity" and potential "praxis" in emergence by focusing on four issues: how can I do this work (tactical stance), what can I accomplish and achieve in it…

The establishment of the National University of Ireland (NUI) in 1908 brought an end to a protracted dispute over the "Irish university question" which had dominated the Irish political agenda at least since the 1850s. The central issue throughout this entire period was the provision of acceptable university education for lay Catholics,…

This article discusses the role and experience of queer youth and allies in the Fair Wisconsin campaign that fought against the marriage amendment to that state's constitution. It illustrates how LGBT and ally youth involvement can be incorporated into other organizations. Following an explanation of the campaign, are narratives of two…

At the end of a presidential campaign in which education received some attention but never emerged as a top-tier issue, analysts were trying to look beyond the week's election to the K-12 issues awaiting the next president and gauge where they might fit as a new administration prepares to grapple with a global economic crisis. While education…

Is ethical leadership possible in the politics of this era? Had the question no specific time frame, the answer might be yes, or at least yes and no. In the 21st century, the idea that people can expect ethical leadership in American politics is to believe that hope triumphs over experience. The purpose of politics is no longer to do what is right…

Updated for the first time since 2005, this indispensable volume includes revised interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights along with key intellectual freedom guidelines and policies, including: (1) A new chapter, "Interactivity and the Internet," and other fresh material on intellectual freedom and privacy in online social…

In this paper the authors focus on the consequences of economies and cultures of speculation in the field of education. Education is one of the arenas where the logics of speculation are being played out. It is argued that the major shifts in educational policy over the past decades in Sweden derive from what Ian Baucom aptly called…

The focus of the paper is on the transformative effect on student learning and engagement that results from using contemporary Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools and directed reflection to engage in spatial learning about the politics (literally) surrounding the student. I report on the pedagogical advantages of using spatial analysis…

Whenever a second language is the object of learning, identity (or sense of self) is at stake, and the question of what community and what speech community one belongs to, strives to belong to, or is afraid to belong to raises complex issues. As stated by Zarate, Bhimji, and Reese (2005): "A bicultural identity is not necessarily a homogeneous or…

Judgments and justifications for different forms of civic involvement and their associations with organized and civic behavior were examined in 312 middle-class primarily White adolescents (M = 17.01 years). Adolescents applied moral, conventional, and personal criteria to distinguish involvement in community service, standard political, social…

Internet technology has provided people with unprecedented abilities to filter the information they encounter, leading many scholars to fear that people will be exposed to less diversity of perspectives and fragment into homogeneous interest groups. Exposure to a wide range of topics and perspectives about political information in particular is…

Geographical indications (GIs) are place-based names that convey the geographical origin, as well as the cultural and historical identity, of agricultural products. GIs are unique, in that they provide a means of ensuring that control over production and sales of a product stays within a local area, but at the same time they make use of extralocal…

In this article, the author shares his experience in teaching a course called "American Political Theory" at Nanjing University in Nanjing, People's Republic of China. The course the author designed was intended to explore the philosophical background of what drove the North American colonists to declare their independence; what ideas…

This paper discusses major challenges for the development of teacher education for inclusion through an analysis of relevant recent experience in Malta. Inclusion in society and in education has been explicitly on the Maltese national agenda for the past two decades. The Faculty of Education of the University of Malta has been one of the main…

This narrative study explored the personal and professional experiences of eight African American women vice presidents for student affairs (VPSA) employed at predominately White institutions (PWIs) and the persistence strategies they used while working at a PWI. Through the use of narrative inquiry methods, I utilized a purposeful sample of eight…