On campuses across the country, students and professional staff are considering student interfaith leadership as one way that students act on their core values to make a positive difference in the world. This kind of student leadership can be framed through student leadership models like the social change model of leadership development. Better…

Global citizens are those who are aware of, demonstrate respect for, and are comfortable engaging across cultural boundaries. This article explores why preparing global citizens is important and how positive psychology can inform our understanding of those who engage comfortably in today's complicated world. Soliya's Connect program is described…

This article articulates a model for the "engaged campus" through academic programs focused on community engagement, broadly construed. Such academic programs--usually coalesced in certificate programs, minors, and majors--provide a complementary vision for the deep institutionalization of civic and community engagement in the academy that can…

This essay is an excerpt from a keynote speech delivered by Benjamin Barber at the 2nd Annual Summer Research Institute on the "Future of Community Engagement in Higher Education." The speech focuses on six conditions that will impact community service-learning and voluntarism efforts in the years ahead: the ideology of neo-liberalism and…

Institutions of higher education have continuously struggled to find ways to keep young adults engaged. In order to do so, they have introduced a number of techniques and programs into the curriculum, but these programs do not necessarily translate to transformational learning for students. This article discusses the transformation of an…

This article analyzes the experience of teaching and learning in a "Literature of Service" course in its attempt to utilize the best of civic learning and faith-based reflection to make sense of social inequality. The language of students' final portfolios for the course suggests a direct connection between their classroom talk about literary…

Our colleges and universities have the opportunity to play a role in transforming the tone of our current national discourse and model the core values of our democratic society as we prepare students to be civically responsible.

Colleges and universities are places where students are immersed in course work and planned activities outside the classroom, where habits based on values and character can be formed. Whether working with students to achieve learning outcomes specifically related to academic courses or helping them work through the consequences of a conduct issue,…

Developing character, ethical values, social responsibility, and productive citizenship is identified in the mission of many colleges and universities. However, accomplishing and measuring such growth in students is often questionable. This article describes Northern Michigan University's Student Leader Fellowship Program, discusses development…

In 1831, a young French intellectual named Alexis de Tocqueville visited the United States. Less than a year later, he returned home to begin writing "Democracy in America," a two-volume book that is arguably the best ever written on its subject. It is quite remarkable that Tocqueville's book has proven to be so prophetic and enduring: When the…

The conversation about essential learning outcomes of college has never been more active or important. Although much of the attention on learning outcomes is narrowly focused on cognitive outcomes, especially critical thinking, the need to educate students for personal and social responsibility has never been clearer. In this article the author…