While provisions of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 continue to guarantee equal voting rights (Dreiband 2017), a fundamental question remains: To what extent do all voters share an equitable experience at the polls? Anecdotally, not everyone has equal access, yet where do these differences exist spatially, are there trends, and how can…

Learning about local government seems boring and irrelevant to most young people, particularly to students from high-poverty backgrounds. The authors explore a promising approach for solving this problem, Storypath, which engages students in authentic learning and active citizenship. The Storypath approach is based on a narrative in which students…

This paper explores the limitations of empathy for the formation of community, particularly within social justice education. I begin with a discussion of the major tension within the idea of community--that it is founded at once on commonality and difference. Building in particular upon the work of Emmanuel Levinas, the paper articulates an…

Summarizes methods from a high school geography class that used examples from local geography to teach basic geographic concepts. Maintains that these illustrative examples can be used even in courses where the content is not local geography. Provides examples of local landscapes illustrating concepts applicable to the Brazilian rain forest. (MJP)

Vincent Scully, Yale art historian, discusses urban architecture, classical influences, and the role of technology. He argues for a public architecture that expresses and supports the concept of communities, and discusses the decline and rebirth of American cities. (MJP)

Contends that environmental issues are shaping contemporary scholarship across academic areas. Asserts that art educators are familiar with the relationships among art, art education, and the environment. Explores ideas of contemporary ecotheorists and proposes an expanded concept of the community in relation to place. (CFR)

A compilation of five journal issues describing facts and daily life in the Soviet Union, the documents are intended to help people of the United States know about the people of the Soviet Union, their hopes, fears, and facts of their daily lives. Among the topics included in the publications are: Soviet consumers and the law; public health…

Presents "C.U.B.E.: Creating Understanding of the Built Environment," a unit focusing on a community's built environment. Discusses the interdisciplinary goals of the unit. Provides four samples of activities from within the unit. (CFR)

Describes a course that approaches concepts of historic preservation from a humanities, rather than an architectural, perspective. The course begins with a questionnaire about the area that uses ideas from perceptual geography and social psychology. Later readings include novels, poems, essays, and songs. (MJP)

Observes that children's interests, especially their fascination with personal changes in height, weight, and abilities, can be used to help teach concepts of time and change. Illustrates how family and community contexts can be incorporated into this teaching. Includes suggested learning activities. (MJP)

Describes a Michigan social studies curriculum enrichment project that combines historical analysis with documentary photographs of urban residents. The project utilizes photographs, public history, and oral histories to introduce middle school students to the concept of community. Includes photographs of urban activities and discussion questions.…

Presents six service learning lesson plans from the Constitutional Rights Foundation. Each lesson plan represents a step in a larger service project. The plans include "Defining and Assessing Your Community"; "Choosing and Researching a Problem"; "Examining Policy"; "Exploring Options"; and "Taking…

Argues for the establishment of "African-centered" schools on an experimental basis, in direct consultation and partnership with students, educators, administrators, and the local community. Maintains that most mainstream public schools reinforce concepts and values of the dominant culture and alienate students of color. (MJP)

Considers the effects of commercialism and the current mania for name brand clothing on the lives of Canada's young Native Americans. Argues that the adoption of assimilationist and mainstream cultural values grows from the Indians' lack of any real political power. Postulates that young Indian women are particularly vulnerable to this tendency.…

Discusses a select group of children's fiction books that tell the tales of some Hispanic people in the United States. The books reveal various aspects of Hispanic culture including family, community, friends, and neighbors. Suggested learning activities support the reading material. (MJP)