In the field of international service-learning (ISL) there is an increasing call for practitioners to engage in critical reflection of the experiential aspects of their ISL programs. We take up this call by turning our attention to one particular dimension of our ISL course: our relationship with our host partner. Our analysis is grounded in our…

This article demonstrates how unknowing and/or unintentional commitments to neoliberal ideology adversely impact the advancement of the civic engagement movement. After considering the relevant literature on this topic, I outline how the grant-seeking process can be understood as one organizing technique that affirms structures produced by…

Based on quantitative survey data and qualitative data from journal entries by students in a seminar focused on community-based research, undergraduate student perceptions of community partners are explored in the context of debates about the politics of knowledge. Student perceptions that frame community partners as the recipients of academic…

Community service learning and community-based research necessitate the development of strong community-university partnerships. In this paper, students, faculty, and a community partner critically reflect upon the process of establishing a long-term community-university partnership through the integration of a community service learning component…

This article reviews the unique opportunities and challenges related to establishing and maintaining a long-term community-university development partnership in a historic African American community. It highlights the significant benefits and costs generated by an interdisciplinary community development assistance project undertaken by a community…

This article tells a story of practice, a story of theory, and how each informs and transforms the other through a two-way flow of people and knowledge from a city to a campus and back again. By reflecting with fellow participants on the events and outcomes of a sustained city campus partnership, the author introduces a theory of engagement from…

Service-learning can be academically effective even when the distances between students and client organizations prevent face-to-face interchanges and site visits. Working with the State of Michigan and Michigan Townships Association, Michigan students from five universities learned about local government while helping Michigan townships develop…

Although a vibrant literature on the social justice advantages of writing service-learning programs has existed for many years, the focus has tended to be on specific projects and courses, often accompanied by an understandable suspicion that entrenched institutions like universities have interests inimical to radical social change. As a result,…

This paper presents the results of interviews with staff from 64 community organizations regarding their experiences with service-learners. One of the themes that emerged from the interviews focused on concerns related to short-term service-learning commitments that last a semester or less. We explore the challenges presented to community groups…

Conversations continue as to whether and how community-based learning and research (CBLR) can be most effectively integrated into the mission and practice of institutions of higher education (IHEs). In 2005, eight District of Columbia- (DC-) area universities affiliated with the Community Research and Learning (CoRAL) Network engaged in a planning…

There is an emerging body of literature advocating a "critical" approach to community service learning with an explicit social justice aim. A social change orientation, working to redistribute power, and developing authentic relationships are most often cited in the literature as points of departure from traditional service-learning. This…

We analyze a multi-campus collaboration in a Food Stamp Enrollment Campaign to demonstrate that a well-managed public benefits campaign, associated with broader advocacy-based community partnerships, can result in positive outcomes for the community that include measurable benefits for clients, data needed to make policy and administrative…

Students from seven institutions of higher education reported their preferences for different paradigms of service at the beginning of their service-learning courses. At the end of the courses, they described the associated service activities in terms of the same paradigms and also completed scales describing their learning outcomes and attitudes…

As the prevalence of service-learning within higher education institutions grows across the globe there is value to explore, discuss, and describe the similarities and differences between the various expressions that are emerging. Such comparative analysis can deepen understanding of service-learning pedagogy, improve practice, and create a…

This qualitative study is based on in-depth interviews with 40 representatives from 12 community-based organizations (CBOs) working with the Steans Center for Community-based Service-Learning at DePaul University in Chicago. These CBOs see themselves as partners with the University in educating college students about the realities of racial and…