Research, Advocacy, and Political Engagement

Introduction

As institutions of higher education embrace civic engagement, service learning has emerged as a most effective way to engage students in field experiences where they will confront profound questions of the relevance of academic learning to addressing community needs.

Series Organization

Each volume in this series is organized around a specific community issue, and provides multiple perspectives on both the theoretical foundations for understanding the issues, and purposeful approaches to addressing them.

Contributors and Approaches

The contributors to these books—who represent disciplines in the sciences, humanities and social sciences—offer vivid examples of how they have integrated civic engagement in their courses, explain their objectives, and demonstrate how they assess outcomes.

Activity / Methodology

To stimulate adaptation of the approaches described in these books, each volume includes an Activity / Methodology table that summarizes key elements of each example, such as class size, type of community partner, the activity and the methodology or pedagogy employed, and potential applications of the example in other disciplines.

Focus on Political Engagement

This volume presents inventive approaches to using service learning to introduce students to political engagement. The work of faculty representing a wide variety of disciplines, this compilation of innovative and varied courses offers models to adapt and ideas to stimulate the creativity of instructors.

Disciplinary Perspectives

The contributors view political engagement from distinct vantage points. Political scientists look at political engagement from a more traditional perspective. Mathematicians develop courses that explore the statistical implications. Economists focus on cost benefit analysis. Business professors provide an entrepreneurial angle. Feminists consider the language implications of political engagement.

Chapter Content

The chapters in this book describe how teachers in Politics, Education, Urban and Regional Planning, Business, Communications, Sociology, Mathematics, Economics, and Women’s Studies have created effective activities that advance disciplinary knowledge, develop collaboration with communities, and engage students in the political process.