Civic Engagement Resources
The following resources comprise some of the recent literature on civic engagement in higher education, including community-campus partnerships, community-based research, and service learning. The range of materials has been divided into the following categories:
- Featured Articles: Jump to the description below
- Featured Book: Jump to the description below
- Engaged Scholarship: Jump to the description below
- Scholarship Focused on Engagement: Jump to the description below
- Student Learning: Jump to the description below
- Institutionalizing Civic Engagement: Jump to the description below
- Community-University Partnerships:Jump to the description below
- Comparative Civic
Engagement:Jump to the description
below
and - Relevant Websites & Blogs: Jump to the description below
In addition to abstracts from articles, book chapters, and conference presentations, we have included summaries of recent articles and books in the Features section, as well as short descriptions and links to relevant civic engagement-oriented websites. This section of our website should not be considered a complete listing of all the relevant work on civic engagement, but rather is meant to be a work-in-progress – a useful resource for anyone interested in recent discussions about the civic engagement movement.
We welcome suggestions for additions to the bibliography – if you have
a suggestion, please contact us.
Featured Article:
Stanton, T.K. (2007). New Times Demand New Scholarship 2:
Research Universities and Civic Engagement: Opportunities and Challenges.
The University of California, Los Angeles. Available at: http://www.compact.org/initiatives/research_universities/
Go to article summary or Download complete
file <PDF>
Featured Book:
Longo, N.V. (2007). Why community matters: Connecting education with civic life. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Go to book summary.
Abstracts
Engaged Scholarship
Engaged scholarship reflects empirical research conducted in partnership with public and private stakeholders, with the goal of addressing critical social issues and contributing to the public good. Often, community partners are included in the research process, either as informants, in collecting data, in analyzing the data, or all of the above. Among the pieces included here are those utilizing an action research methodology, in which tangible and immediate outcomes of community-based research are sought. Go to Engaged Scholarship abstracts.
Scholarship Focused on Engagement
The scholarship of engagement concentrates on assessing the means, methods, and purposes of institutional civic engagement. It includes reflections on doing community-based scholarship, as well as the impact such work can have on all constituencies involved. This section contains pieces on conducting action research, rethinking what we consider to be civic engagement, and taking account of how the college constituency collaborates with community partners. Go to Scholarship Focused on Engagement abstracts.
Student Learning
The student learning section emphasizes learning outcomes for students who participate in civic engagement projects, such as community-based research and service-learning. Included are pieces on curricular developments, strategies for getting students involved in local communities, and assessments of community-based work on students’ short- and long-term development. The focus here is on curricular and co-curricular experiences that will help students become active and effective citizens within our diverse democracy. Go to Student Learning abstracts.
Institutionalizing Civic Engagement
This section focuses on the challenges to and benefits of implementing civic engagement initiatives. Much of the literature here discusses the civic responsibility of colleges and universities to be connected to their local communities, as well as how engaged campuses benefit from a concerted effort to connect to community. Included in these efforts to increase engagement on campus are discussions of how greater collaboration between institutional units can benefit both researchers and practitioners, as well as improve interdisciplinary scholarship. Go to Institutionalizing Civic Engagement abstracts
Community-University Partnerships
The scholarship on community-university partnerships concerns the challenges in creating these partnerships, as well as suggestions on how to develop successful associations that are of benefit to both the university and the community. Generally, scholars recommend that community partners be involved in most, if not all, aspects of the work that comes out of the partnership, including data gathering, data analysis, curriculum development, student placement, etc. In fact, a number of the pieces in this section include a response to the lack of community focus in engagement work, be it in the design of projects or in the analysis and interpretation of collected data. Also addressed is the issue of the sustainability of such partnerships. Go to Community-University Partnerships.
Comparative Civic Engagement
Here we have some of the international literature on civic engagement that has come out of countries such as Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Although much of the sentiment for why to engage is similar to that coming out of the United States, scholarship overseas tends to focus more on how colleges can increase economic development within their local communities, as well as on the need for increased funding for engaged scholarship. Also included here are links to various college websites which describe civic engagement initiatives on their campuses. Go to Comparative Civic Engagement abstracts.
Relevant Websites & Blogs
This section includes a listing of sites focused on civic engagement work, including community-based research, service-learning, methods of engaging the community, and the civic purposes of higher education. Go to Websites & Blogs links.
