Description of Civic Agency Institute

There's something stirring. Our students, faculty members, and national partners were our work a “movement.” It seems clear that ADP schools will lead this work. In the movement, we’re trying to activate citizens to solve local problems by partnering with elected officials. This movement presents an alternative to the negative, partisan bickering that we’ve been subjected to. Under Harry Boyte and Dennis Donovan’s leadership, ADP campuses are offering a new vision of how politics can work. Read more about the 2010 Civic Agency Institute here and here. See pictures from the institute here and here.

Watch footage from the Civic Agency Institute here.         

Institute Reading and Handouts

1. "Because I Can," by KerryAnn O'Meara, Professor of Higher Education, University of Maryland College Park (An exploration of faculty civic agency.)

2. "Academic Libraries As Hubs For Deliberative Democracy" by Nancy Kranich, Chair, American Library Association Center for Public Life

3. Description of Multnomah Youth Commission (MYC) by Josh L. Todd, Director Multnomah County Commission on Children, Families & Community (MYC is an example of "We the People" at work.)

4. "Ex-Members of Congress Call for Civility" (Calling themselves “Former Members of Congress for Common Ground,” the group led by former Representatives John Porter, Republican of Illinois, and David Skaggs, Democrat of Colorado, sent emails asking for “a change in rhetoric and tone that can lead to a focus on problem-solving. This needs to begin now, especially as we head into the heat of the 2010 campaign.”)

5. "10 Commandments for Elections" by Stephen Noble Smith, author, Stoking the Fire of Democracy: Our Generation's Introduction to Grassroots Community Organizing (Stephen proposes a set of agreements and "commandments" that will promote "We the People" ideals for elected officials and citizens to follow during elections.)

6. “The Achievement Gap VS the Empowerment Gap,” by Sheldon Berman (This paper offers a new perspective on the achievement gap by re-framing the problem as an empowerment gap.)

7. " Lessons I Wish I’d Learned on Campus" by Stephen Noble Smith 

Notes from the final day of the Civic Agency Institute.

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