The Periclean Progress E-Newsletter

Volume 4, Issue 5 – March 2008

The Periclean Progress is a publication of Project Pericles, Inc., a not-for-profit organization that encourages and facilitates commitments by colleges and universities to include education for social responsibility and participatory citizenship as an essential part of their educational programs, in the classroom, on the campus, and in the community.

National Office Announcements

Exciting Updates on D4D Conference: On April 3 and 4, 2008, Project Pericles will host the 2008 Debating for Democracy (D4D) National Event in New York City for 50 student leaders from Periclean colleges and universities. The event will consist of workshops, keynote addresses, panel discussions, and "legislative hearings". The conference will be sponsored by the Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation and hosted by TIAA-CREF. The complete agenda for the event can be viewed here.

The legislative hearings will be moderated by former U.S. Senator and current President of The New School Bob Kerrey. The legislators who will participate in the event include former U.S. Senator Nancy Kassebaum Baker; former U.S. Senator Harris Wofford; current New York City Councilman Eric Gioia; and current State Senator Bill Perkins.

In early March, 41 groups of students from 21 Periclean colleges and universities, who wanted to participate in the hearings, submitted original legislative proposals to Project Pericles addressing a variety of public policy issues. After reviewing these proposals, a committee selected six finalists. The colleges, proposal titles, and student authors are listed below. At the conference, these six teams will present their proposals to the legislators and a large audience of students, faculty, and other interested people. At the end of the event, the legislators will select the winning proposal. The winning team will receive a $4,000 award that can be used to fund advocacy and education activities including lobbying trips and education workshops.

  • Allegheny College
    Auctioning for a Better Future
    Christy McShea, Jenna Gathmann, Krys Castillo, Eric Winter, Scott Gast,
    and Arielle Conti

  • Berea College
    Coal-to-Liquid and Coal-to-Gas: Repeal of the Federal Funding for CTL/CTG Production
    Beth Coleman, Lorena Luna, Kenneth Johnson, and Kate Ruddle

  • Hampshire College
    The Military Selective Service Act: An Unfair Bargain for Upward Mobility
    Raul Matta

  • Hendrix College
    Relieving Child Hunger Through Food Stamp Reform
    Taylor Adams and Erin Lyons

  • Macalester College
    A Distributed and Community-Based Electrical Grid: Building the Energy, Economy, and Democracy for Tomorrow
    Kai Bosworth

  • New England College
    Establishing a Consumer Privacy Registry
    John Doucette and Lianna French

Periclean News

Ten Periclean Schools Receive President's Honor Roll Award for Service: Ten Periclean schools have been recognized by The Corporation for National and Community Service as members of the 2007 President's Higher Community Service Honor Roll. Launched in 2006, the Community Service Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for its commitment to service-learning and civic engagement. Honorees for the award are chosen based on factors that included scope and innovativeness of service projects, percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service, and the extent to which the school offers academic service-learning courses. Honor Roll: Bates College*, Berea College*, Elon University*, Macalester College*, Occidental College*, Pace University, Rhodes College*, Ursinus College, Wagner College*, and Widener University* (*Honor roll with distinction)

Pitzer Program Director Wins Prestigious Award: The Open Society Institute named 18 outstanding scholars, lawyers, advocates, and journalists to be the 2008 Soros Justice Fellows. In total, the Fellows will receive more than $1,125,000 to support their creative and groundbreaking work to reform the American justice system. Professor Susan Phillips, the Project Pericles Program Director at Pitzer College, was one of the 18 scholars. The award will help Dr. Phillips complete Operation Fly Trap: Gangs, Drugs and the Law, a book examining how federal policies directed at combating drugs and gangs actually generate and sustain the conditions that perpetuate poverty, crime, and violence in communities of color.

Allegheny Formalizes Civic Engagement Council: In conjunction with the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) Core Commitments program, Allegheny College's Civic Engagement Council (CEC) has hosted five college-community dialogues addressing environmental responsibility, neighborhood revitalization, economic development, and student conduct. CEC campus partners have also supported participation in RecycleMania, with special emphasis on the connections between over-consumption, waste, and global warming.

Ursinus Hosts Forum on Museums and Communities: The Berman Museum of Art at Ursinus College and The Speaker's House in Trappe co-sponsored a public forum titled "Museums and Their Communities: Negotiating Preservation, Interpretation and Relevance" on March 19. Panelists Bill Adair, Hirsig Family Director of Education at the Rosenbach Museum & Library, Stephen Hague, Executive Director of Stenton, and David Young, Executive Director of Cliveden examined how 21st Century museums can achieve sustainability. The panel was moderated by Susan Shifrin, Associate Director for Education at the Berman. Students from Dr. Shifrin's course "Museums and Their Communities," a course intended to demonstrate how museums function - conceptually and strategically - by means of civic engagement, and that is funded in part by Project Pericles' Civic Engagement Course Grant Program (CEC), helped plan the forum.

Chatham Utilizes Federal Work-Study: Chatham University is taking advantage of federal student work-study to help place students in community-service oriented positions in a variety of community organizations such as the Carriage House early children's education center, University of Pittsburg Medical Center women's behavioral health center, Pennsylvania Organization for Women in Early Recovery's Halfway House, and Cornell Abraxas, a treatment center for troubled teen girls.

Elon Holds Iraq Symposium: Elon University held a symposium on the costs of the war in Iraq from March 3 to 6. Speakers at the event included Phyllis Bennis, a writer, analyst, activist, and a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, and Dahr Jamail, journalist for Inter Press Service, The Asia Times, Democracy Now!, and the BBC. To view a program of the event, click here.

Swarthmore Student a Featured Speaker at Social Entrepreneurship Conference: Marissa Davis '08, a history major at Swarthmore College, joined other social activists as a featured speaker at the Smith College 2008 Social Entrepreneurship Conference on February 23. Marissa discussed her work in New Orleans, where she established a children's library in Algiers with funding from the Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility. She also discussed her future plans for NOLArize! (New Orleans Louisiana rising), an organization she founded to raise awareness of the current situation in New Orleans. To learn more about the conference, click here.

Hendrix Professor Releases Report on Education in Arkansas: Hendrix College Professor of Politics and Project Pericles Program Director Dr. Jay Barth is co-author of the report, "What is Arkansas Doing to Close the Achievement Gap?" Newly released by Hendrix College, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, the Arkansas Public Policy Panel, and the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, the report finds that major gaps remain among students of different racial and socioeconomic groups in the state. The report also identifies steps to close the achievement gap in future years. Also contributing to the report was Hendrix College graduate Russ Montgomery. To read the full report, click here.

Seven Students from Periclean Colleges Win Prestigious Watson Fellowship: Seven students from Periclean colleges were named as winners of the prestigious Thomas Watson Fellowship. The Watson Foundation calls these selected Fellows "students of unusual promise" who are "accomplished leaders." Nearly 1000 students apply for these wards, and 175 were considered as finalists. Each Fellow receives $25,000 for the year of travel and is not expected to return to the U.S. until the year is over. The names of the students and their projects are listed below:

  • Bates College
    Jordan Williams
    Graffn' Legitimacy: Global Perspectives on Race, Gender, and the Real Writer
    Germany, South Africa, Brazil

  • Berea College
    Alexander Gibson
    They Call Us Dust Children: An Exploration of Biracial Identity
    South Africa, Vietnam, Venezuela, India

  • Macalester College
    Zachary Devlin-Foltz
    "Tú no sirves!" Sports Slang and the Meaning of Athletic Competition
    Paraguay, Venezuela, Argentina, Puerto Rico

  • Hector Pascual Alvarez
    Social Acupuncture: The Theater Director in Community-Based Performance
    Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, United Kingdom

  • Rhodes College
    Megan Colnar
    In Peaces: Nonviolence and Reconciliation Movements
    India, South Africa, Rwanda, Chile, Northern Ireland

  • Swarthmore College
    Wren Elhai
    Who Needs Instruments? Mouth Music and Vocal Imitation
    Hungary, South Africa, Tuva-Russian Federation, United Kingdom

  • Ursinus College
    Jesse Kremenak
    A Vehicle for Expression: The Customized Automobile
    Japan, China, Australia, India, Czech Republic

President's Corner

Allegheny College Honors President Richard Cook: A new environmental center will be named for Richard J. Cook, President of Allegheny College. The Richard J. Cook Center for Environmental Science will honor Allegheny's 20th President, who is retiring at the end of the academic year after twelve years in the position. "Because of Dr. Cook's passionate commitment to a sustainable economic and environmental future, it seemed most fitting that his name be associated with this center, which will provide even more visibility for Allegheny's already strong and nationally respected programs in environmental science and environmental studies," said Dean of the College Linda DeMeritt in announcing the news to the campus community.

Allegheny College Appoints New President: Dr. James H. Mullen Jr. has been named the 21st President of Allegheny College and will take office on August 1, 2008. Dr. Mullen was the former president of Elms College, chancellor of the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Asheville, and senior vice president of Trinity College. To read more, click here.

National Civic Engagement News

CIRCLE Moves to Tufts: Starting in July 2008, the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) will become part of the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University. CIRCLE was previously housed at the University of Maryland.

Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) Kicks Off at Tulane: Former President Clinton hosted CGI U, a new project of the Clinton Global Initiative, that will engage college students to make commitments to tackle global issues with practical, innovative solutions. The inaugural meeting of CGI U, held at Tulane University, in New Orleans, from March 14 to 16, convened more than 600 college students, university presidents and administrators, leading nonprofit organizations, social entrepreneurs, and youth leaders to discuss how student activists can make a difference around the world.

Website of the Month

The website www.servicevote.org is part of Youth Service America's campaign to engage young people in the political process, beginning with voting. Building on the significant recent growth in both youth volunteering and voting, ServiceVote 2008 challenges young people to think critically about how, by participating in the political process, they can affect the issues that they work to address through service.

Resources and Publications

Students Believe They Can Change the Country: A strong majority of young voters think they can change the country, says a poll released last week by Rock the Vote, a nonprofit group that encourages young people to participate in the political process. The study found that 89 percent of 18 to 29 year old voters believe they have the ability to change the country, and 75 percent think their age group is having a greater-than-usual impact on the presidential election this year. The poll also found that issues important to young voters include the economy (17 percent), the war in Iraq (12 percent), health care (11 percent), and college affordability (10 percent).

AAC&U and The Aspen Institute announce a new seminar for 2008: the Wye Chief Academic Officers' Seminar, June 15-20, will focus on "Citizenship and the Polity." The seminar will provide the opportunity to exchange ideas with colleagues from other colleges and universities while probing the fundamental values and goals that are the reason for our institutional existence. Readings are selected to challenge participants to focus on values such as individual rights and responsibilities both nationally and globally, and the public purposes of education in a free, democratic republic.

Conferences

April 3-4, 2008
New York, NY
The 2008 Project Pericles Debating for Democracy Conference
Debating for Democracy (D4D).

April 9-12, 2008
Minneapolis, MN
The 19th Annual National Service-Learning Conference
National Youth Leadership Council.

June 12-14, 2008
Snowbird, Utah
American Democracy Project (ADP) National Meeting
American Democracy Project.

October 25-28, 2008
New Orleans, LA
8th International Research Conference on Service-learning and Community Engagement: Reciprocity across the Scholarship of Engagement
International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE).

 

 

The Periclean Progress is issued each month during the academic year and is posted on the Project Pericles website.
To subscribe or submit Periclean-related information for publication, email projectpericles@projectpericles.org.

"CLAIMING THE LEGACY OF PERICLES"®

Periclean Colleges & Universities
Allegheny College • Bates College • Berea College • Bethune-Cookman University
Chatham College • Dillard University • Elon University • Hampshire College
Hendrix College • Macalester College • New England College • The New School
Occidental College • Pace University • Pitzer College • Rhodes College
St. Mary's College of Maryland • Spelman College • Swarthmore College
Ursinus College • Wagner College • Widener University

National Office
Executive Director: Jan R. Liss

Board of Directors
Chair: Eugene M. Lang

Presidents' Council
Chair: David A. Caputo, Pace University

National Board of Advisors
Co-Chairs: Sen. Nancy Kassebaum Baker & Hon. Kurt L. Schmoke

The title "Project Pericles ®," and its embodiment in the Logo, are registered service marks of Project Pericles, Inc. All rights reserved.