This article documents how an MSW student in an introductory community practice course took her class assignment and over the course of two years revitalized, democratized, and transformed a sclerotic, corporate-run Home Owners Association (HOA). While the community analysis assignment required the student to interview six of her neighbors, the…

Background: U.S. preschool children from Latinx immigrant and Black communities often experience schooling rooted in compliance and overdiscipline. In these contexts, schools do not recognize the rich lived experiences of Children of Color as suitable for civic learning. This article explores how, when schools value young Children of Color as…

The subject of the article is of current interest nowadays in the conditions of spiritual and moral crisis provoked by the deep social and economic transformations occurring in modern society. Such public situation makes fall into a muse about the revival of lost cultural wealth, about moral and patriotic reference points in youth education. The…

This article invites imaginings of democracy and education with and through "other" knowledges. It argues for the possibilities of working across difference as articulated in the transnational, border, and decolonial perspectives of Chicana/Latina feminisms. Specifically, it explores Gloria Anzaldúa's notions of…

The mission of The Research University Civic Engagement Network (TRUCEN) is to advance civic engagement and engaged scholarship among research universities. TRUCEN has adopted the following goals for advancing civic engagement and engaged scholarship as part of the core mission of all research universities: (1) Encourage community-engaged…

By the early years of this new century it was evident that increasing numbers of colleges and universities had undertaken numerous innovative efforts to reinvigorate and prioritize students' civic and community engagement in their surrounding communities. However, a number of individuals involved with these movements had noticed that much of the…

The central message of this report is that a new generation of veterans is returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan without sufficient connections to communities, is enthusiastic to serve again, and points the way forward for how our nation can better integrate them into civilian life. Although the 1.8 million veterans are from every corner of our…

Michigan State University embarked upon an initiative to explore deliberative dialogue as a tool for addressing community-based contested issues in agriculture and natural resources. Our goal is to assess the extent to which deliberative dialogue can help "bridge the divides" among citizens and professionals and fulfill the land-grant…

Differences between old-timers and newcomers and their effects on community social dimensions have been the object of much research. These studies have shown how extensive in-migration of people with different socioeconomic backgrounds, values, and perspectives contribute to heightened social conflict in some communities. Popular media accounts…

Benjamin Franklin founded the University of Pennsylvania as a secular institution with the pragmatic aim of instilling in its students the inclination and ability to serve humankind in both the civic and mercantile realms. On this, the three hundredth anniversary of his birth (1706-2006), Franklin's ideal of a democratic, engaged university has…

Various traditions within developmental science and psychology have concentrated on either personal or collective correlates as manifestations of well-being. The authors' claim is that the well-being of any one person is highly dependent on the well-being of her relationships and on the community in which she resides. Well-being may be defined as…