Book Description:
This book offers a case study of a medium-sized, private metropolitan university’s adoption, implementation, and assessment of a civic engagement mission. Situated in a city where the loss of a once robust industrial base has resulted in urban blight faced by many communities throughout the United States, this university is attempting to partner with community members to address the social and economic impact of these changes and to bolster the resiliency of residents and local organizations. While prompted by a genuine desire on the part of many in the university community to serve the community, this civic engagement initiative is also shaped by the belief that such service will enrich the educational experience of the university’s students and provide additional professional development opportunities for faculty. (Imprint: Nova Press)

Table of Contents:
Dedication

Foreword
(Ira Harkavy)

Preface
(About the Authors)

Chapter 1. How Widener Developed a Culture of Civic Engagement and Fulfilled its Promise as a Leading Metropolitan University
(James T. Harris, III) pp.1-12

Chapter 2. How Can I Help? The Seduction of Service Learning
(Jo Allen)pp.13-20

Chapter 3. Faculty Motivation, Vitality, and Professional Growth: The Ingredients Embedded in a Service-Learning Faculty Development Program
(Arlene Dowshen and Marcine Pickron-Davis)pp.21-34

Chapter 4. Teacher Education in the Community: Integrating and Transforming Field
Work through Service Learning and Community Engagement
(Nadine McHenry)pp.35-48

Chapter 5. Civic Engagement and Social Work Education
John Poulin, Travis Sky Ingersoll and Paula Silver pp.49-64

Chapter 6. Learning Service: Teaching Literature as Civic Engagement
(Daniel Robinson and Janine Utell)pp.65-78

Chapter 7. The Political Complexities of Establishing a University-Sponsored Charter School as an Interdisciplinary Service Learning Opportunity
(Michael W. Ledoux, Stephen C. Wilhite, Paula Silver)pp.79-92

Chapter 8. The Development of a Community Clinic: How a Signature Project Can Mobilize Commitment to Sustainable Community
(Kerstin M. Palombaro, Robin L. Dole and Jill Black Lattanzi)pp.93-108

Chapter 9. Violence Prevention Initiatives with Communities and Organizations: The Center for Violence Prevention
(Jeannette Wyatt) pp.109-120

Chapter 10. Service-Learning in China
(Melanie Swain, John Poulin, Travis Sky Ingersoll, Heather Witt
and Xu Shan) pp.121-144

Chapter 11. International Service-Learning: The Building Blocks of a Successful Experience
(Beatriz Urraca)pp.145-156

Chapter 12. Let’s Talk about Pedagogy, Research and Practices Centered on Racial Identity Development Theory in Cultural-Based Service-Learning
(Lori Simons, Lawrence Fehr, Nancy Blan, et al.) pp.157-178

Chapter 13. Evaluating the Impact of a University’s Civic Engagement Projects on the Community
(Stephen E. Kauffman) pp.179-208

Index pp.209-218