This essay builds on and extends earlier research and writing that the authors have done, trying to understand how a commitment to local engagement, which is the term commonly used at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), becomes embedded in the core work of the institution. Their inquiries have been guided by social psychologist Kurt Lewin's…

This article addresses criticisms that U.S. colleges and universities have lost their moral and civic purposes. It suggests that a major problem is the fragmentation resulting from higher education's organization into departments. A University of Pennsylvania project to revitalize an urban Philadelphia neighborhood is described as an example of…

A university-assisted participatory action project, the West Philadelphia Improvement Corps (WEPIC), has worked with several schools in Philadelphia to develop comprehensive community school projects. WEPIC is now a school-based neighborhood and school revitalization movement that attempts to serve, educate, involve, and activate all members of…

Significant, multisector community partnerships are a prerequisite for sustained, systemwide pre-Kindergarten through college-level educational reform. Like a few others, the University of Pennsylvania is developing higher education-assisted community schools designed to help educators educate, engage, activate, and serve all community members.…

The founding of the Australian system of higher education closely parallels the creation of public postsecondary education in the United States during the nineteenth century. Their subsequent histories reflect a growing recognition of postsecondary education's capacity to shape the economic prospects not only of individuals, but of entire nations.…