Explores how literature teachers might enable their students to understand and solve social problems that threaten human existence by connecting literary studies to the "social text." Suggests lessons for teaching literature toward a humanistic society, specifically toward demystifying the institution of war. (Author/PVV)

Social entrepreneurs are private citizens who play critical roles in bringing about catalytic changes in the public sector agenda and the perception of social issues. Factors that make their projects--such as the Partnership for a Drug-Free America and Earth Day--successful include problem complexity, credibility, and a commitment to a collective…

Notes that since 1970, Volunteer Counseling Service of Rockland County, New York, has pioneered innovative use of community laypeople to do high-level counseling for clients with wide range of serious social problems. Gives the history and an overview of the mechanics and model of work that have made this agency feasible. (Author/NB)

Presents brief annotations of 55 illustrated children's books that deal with contemporary social and political issues: family conflict; homelessness; social challenges; political conflict; leaders; and caution, despair, and hope. (SR)

Summarizes the following issues: how women's career development is changing, how it differs for individuals, and how it is a broader social issue. Lists actions for organizations, women, and adult educators to support women's career development. (SK)

Presents a content analysis of the electronic debate on Ebonics that spanned over 18 months, drawing scholars from all over the world, and culminating in over 70 postings on an electronic bulletin board. Demonstrates that in contesting the issues, using the national social debate on Ebonics, linguists seek to assert their power as a group by…

Notes that, although networked writing classrooms are more egalitarian than non-networked classrooms, networks cannot prevent discrimination. Social identity theory, from social psychology, suggests that instructors must be careful when focusing courses on divisive social issues; the presentation of these issues can break down into binary…

Makes a case for multiculturalism in professional communication studies by examining how international issues have influenced a move from an instrumental to a social orientation. Argues that although multiculturalism in professional communication aligns it with composition studies, it also brings a range of pedagogical, practical, and ethical…

Used 1996 Canadian census data to examine the spatial structure and intensity of urban deprivation in Montreal. Analysis of 20 indicators of urban deprivation identified 6 main types of deprivation in the city and found that they were most visible on the Island of Montreal. Urban deprivation was not confined to the inner city. (SM)

Notes that more secondary teachers are discovering the therapeutic and instructional value of children's literature and are steadily increasing their use of quality picture books to introduce a theme, begin a discussion on a social issue, trigger a round of creative writing, or strengthen an appreciation for poetry. Encourages young adults to…

Outlines a few items of "unfinished business" in the profession of evaluation, focusing on outcome evaluation, also called impact evaluation. No issue related to the future of evaluation seems more important than that of finding routine methods to assess the impact of everyday practical programs on the social conditions they address.…

Discussion of the roots of youth violence and aggression suggest that long-term solutions will be complex and require significant changes in the conditions that contribute to violence, not merely adding more security and swifter or harsher punishments. Questions are posed concerning causes of violence as well as our culture's fundamental…

Highlights modes of evidence in large corpus research that may be significant for Sociolinguistics. Suggests that corpus data can help Sociolinguistics engage with issues and variations in usage that are less abstract then phonetics, phonology, and grammar but more proximate to the socially vital issues of the 20th century. (Author/VWL)

Examines images and the written text in the picture book, "The Day of Ahmed's Secret," by Florence Parry Heide and Judith Heide Gilliland. Examines the book in greater detail by looking for issues of authenticity as well as social issues within the book's pictures and written texts. (SG)

Presents a graduate student's reflective memoir of literacy practices experienced as a college student in South Korea. Considers how literacy can be a sociopolitical practice that struggles to free all people, including the oppressors. Rethinks literacy practices in relation to recent historical events--the reunion and rebuilding of family…