Grant Summary
$100,000 over 30 months. Believing that preparing students for civic engagement should be integral to the educational mission of colleges and universities, Project Pericles will work with 22 Periclean institutions (Allegheny College, Bates College, Berea College, Bethune-Cookman College, 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, and Widener University) to explore the incorporation of civic engagement into academic programs. Building on a pilot project which ran from 2004 - 2006, the working group will solicit 40 proposals for humanities and science courses that attend to issues of civic engagement, and will fund their development, testing (teaching), and evaluation. Course proposals will be peer reviewed and funded on the basis of criteria such as academic rigor, creativity, feasibility, articulation and measurability of concrete goals, and transferability to future years and other schools. The final White Paper will serve as a guide for incorporating civic engagement issues into higher education curricula and will contain:
- Background on the need for academic courses that incorporate civic engagement issues;
- Summaries and evaluations of the completed courses, including related materials;
- Description of methods, including procedures used to develop, teach, and evaluate the courses, as well as best practices;
- Guidance on transferability to other institutions;