History
A Look Back
In 1999, Jeremy Cohen, then Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education at Penn State, and a group of Penn State faculty and staff -- Anina Burns, then an undergraduate student, Josephine Carrubia, then Associate Dean of the Schreyer Honors College, Arthur Carter, then Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs, Richard Green, then Director of the School of Music, and Cinda Kostyak, College of Communications academic staff member -- were funded by John Cahir, then Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, to attend the 1999 American Association for Higher Education Summer Academy and soon thereafter to author a plan for public scholarship at Penn State. Based on their recommendations, Cahir authorized the appointment of Carter, Carol Colbeck, then Associate Professor of Education and Director of the Center for the Study of Higher Education, Constance Flanagan, Professor of Youth and Family Education, James Eisenstein, Professor of Political Science, and Lakshman Yapa, Professor of Geography, as Penn State's first Public Scholarship Associates.
Back row, from left: Jeremy Cohen, Art Carter, and Richard Green
Front row, from left: Anina Burns, Cinda Kostyak, Jo Carubia
This first Public Scholarship Associates group, whose work was funded collaboratively by Cahir and Jaime Birge, then Executive Director of Pennsylvania Campus Compact, set as its goal strengthening the academic, disciplinary, and scholarly components of what was commonly referred to as service learning. The Public Scholarship Associates awarded small course development grants to faculty who were not only interested in service learning or civic engagement but also willing to emphasize the academic component of their on-going projects. Thus, incrementally, service learning began to become public scholarship at Penn State.
Over the next three years, the Public Scholarship Associates group grew from five to forty-five and included faculty, staff, administrators, community partners, and both graduate and undergraduate students. The group met regularly for luncheons to discuss collaborative projects and common problems. The group identified several challenges through large-group luncheons and small-group meetings.
First, the program needed an augmented institutional structure if it were to develop a curriculum of consequence and sustain itself across Penn State's 23 campuses. The first step, curricular change, would take a few years to achieve; but, working with Cohen, Flanagan chaired a committee that created and, with the help of Schreyer Honors College Associate Dean Judy Ozment, received approval from the Faculty Senate for an intercollege minor in Civic and Community Engagement. The intercollege minor graduated its first students in 2005.
Meanwhile, the Public Scholarship Associates realized that while it was important to take the best the service learning model had to offer by enabling students to work in communities beyond the university, the service learning model did not provide the means for faculty to receive appropriate academic recognition in bringing their scholarship to bear on public problems. Among the most important of the public problems faculty identified was the dearth of preparation students received to be able to contribute to an enlightened participatory democracy. Traditionally, work of this sort was the purview of student affairs in which students focus on volunteerism and service, neither of which have a rigorous academic component nor were they tied explicitly to the skills and practices required for sustaining democracy.
In realizing that service was not a sufficient model for the work the group felt called to do, and that faculty needed to be rewarded for addressing public problems in disciplinary contexts with their students, it became clear that a larger faculty cohort and a more substantial place in the university's attention economy was required. The Public Scholarship Associates thus initiated two major meetings in two years -- the first to address intra-institutional audiences and the second to make a mark on the national scene. "A Blueprint for Public Scholarhip," a Penn State system-wide colloquium held during Spring Semester 2003, enabled the news of public scholarship to be disseminated across Penn State -- to faculty, staff, students, and administrators. The second major meeting was "A National Public Scholarship Conversation," held during Fall Semester 2004. This colloquium, which brought together an invited cohort from higher education, research institutes, foundations, and public broadcasting, provided a space for extended and rigorous discussion of the perils and promises of public scholarship and the potential contribution of higher education to democracy.
In response to the growth of Public Scholarship initiatives and programs, the Laboratory for Public Scholarship and Democracy opened an office in the Fall of 2005. The Lab now facilitates public scholarship at Penn State through its support and administration of the Intercollege Minor in Civic and Community Engagement, the Public Scholarship Associates, Public Scholarship Course Development Grants, Public Scholarship Seminars, the Lab website, the annual observation of Constitution Day, and other initiatives, publications, and programs.
Public Scholarship at Penn State 2001 - 2008
The Laboratory for Public Scholarship & Democracy
The Laboratory for Public Scholarship and Democracy (LPSD) brings together Penn State students, faculty, staff, and community partners who view education as a democratic keystone. Serving as a catalyst for teaching, research, and civic engagement designed to build democratic capacity, the Laboratory explores ethical habits and practices of citizenship; encourages discovery and creativity that contribute to an understanding of democracy’s 21st century challenges; and initiates university collaborations that recognize the public value of scholarship and contribution through the humanities, sciences, and professions.
Dr. Jeremy Cohen
Associate Vice President & Senior Associate Dean
Undergraduate Education
420 Old Main
Penn State University
University Park, PA 16802-1505
Dr. Mary Lou Zimmerman Munn
Assistant Director, Laboratory for Public Scholarship and Democracy
212 Boucke Building
University Park, PA 16802-5900
(814) 865-2439
mzm10@psu.edu
LPSD Advisory Council:
Peter Aeschbacher, Assistant Professor, Architecture & Landscape Architecture
Ted Alter, Professor of Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Economics
Beth Bee, Doctoral Student, Geography and Women’s Studies
Dawn Blasko, Associate Professor of Psychology, Penn State Erie
Rosa Eberly, Associate Professor, Communication Arts, Sciences, and English
Jackie Edmondson, Associate Dean, College of Education
Michael Elavsky, Assistant Professor, Communications
Connie Flanagan, Professor, Ag & Extension Education
Cary Fraser, Associate Professor of African and African American Studies and History
Laura Guertin, Associate Professor, Geography, Penn State Brandywine
Elody Gyekis (‘09), Undergraduate Student, Art
Emily Janke, Doctoral Candidate, Higher Education
David R. Riley, Associate Professor, Architectural Engineering
Lucky Yapa, Professor, Geography
Intercollege Minor in Civic and Community Engagement
Penn State’s Intercollege Minor in Civic and Community Engagement, instituted in 2004, is currently offered at six campuses: University Park, Brandywine (Delaware County), Erie, Schuylkill, Greater Allegheny, and Beaver. The minor allows Penn State students to integrate academic and creative discovery with their interest in serving the public good through the diffusion of their work as scholars, artists, and artisans into communities beyond the classroom.
Based upon public scholarship theory and practice, the 18-credit minor distinguishes between ethical volunteerism and the complexity of learning and practicing democracy. Through courses, labs, and studios, community field work, and a capstone project, students integrate their scholarship and creativity with democratic principles of contribution to others. While the minor is an excellent conduit to careers in public service, public policy, government, the non-profit and advocacy sectors, social activism, and education, it also increases student awareness of public consequence and public accountability in intended careers in their disciplines.
YFE 211, Foundations of Civic and Community Engagement, has been approved for a General Education designation in the Social Sciences (GS) and US culture and International cultures designation (US/IL) by the Faculty Senate.
CIVCOM Program Faculty:
Chairs: Connie Flanagan, AEE & YFE, UP; Laura Guertin, Geology, Brandywine
Peter Aeschbacher, Assistant Professor of Architecture & Landscape Architecture
Dawn Blasko, Associate Professor of Pscyhology, Penn State Erie
Kathy Brown, Assistant Professor of Communications, Penn State Greater Allegheny
Rosa Eberly, Associate Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences
Michael Elavsky, Assistant Professor of Communications
Terry Hartman, Associate Professor of Nutrition
Ken Jenkins, Professor and Head Electrical Engineering
Elinor Madigan, Assistant Professor of Information, Sciences, and Technology, Penn
State Schuylkill
Jennifer Mastrofski, Associate Professor of Administration of Justice
Patti Mills, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Penn State Altoona
Judy Ozment, Associate Dean, Shreyer Honors College
Lucky Yapa, Professor of Geography
Course Development & Enhancement Grants
Grants for faculty to develop or enhance courses that directly support the Intercollege Minor in Civic and Community Engagement are supported and administered through the Laboratory for Public Scholarship and Democracy. Faculty members at all Penn State campuses that either currently offer the Minor or where the Minor is under active development are eligible for the award.
2008 Recipients
(The 2008 Grants were rewarded for proposals embedding Constitution Day 2008 into the curriculum)
Kirstin Ruth Bratt, Assistant Professor of Curriculum & Instruction at Penn State Altoona, for “Defending the First Amendment Rights of Children: Banned Book Defense Essays (LLED 402).”
Laura Guertin, Associate Professor of Earth Sciences at Penn State Brandywine, for “Bringing the Theme of Democracy and Constitution Day into an Environmental Sustainability First Year Seminar (PSU 010).”
Richard J. Harnish, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Penn State New Kensington, for “The Five Freedoms in the First Amendment and Regional Deliberations to Spur Social and Economic Redevelopment (PSYCH 212 & PSYCH 424).”
Stephanie Cayot Serriere, Assistant Professor of Social Studies/Language, Culture & Society in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction, at Penn State University Park, for “A Constitution Day 2008 Community Forum: Using the Structured Academic Controversy Model to discuss Downloading Creative Material from the Internet (SSED430W) .”
Robert Speel, Associate Professor of Political Science at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, for “A Constitution Day 2008 Forum addressing Constitutional Issues and the 2008 Presidential Campaign.”
2007 Recipients
Kathleen Brown, Assistant Professor of Communications, Penn State Greater Allegheny. “Smart Technologies for Smart Aging”
Thomas Colledge, Assistant Professor of Engineering, College of Engineering. “Certificate Program in Community Service Engineering: Development of EDSGN 452”
Ann Dodd, Assistant Dean for Strategic Initiatives and Associate Professor of Agricultural and Extension Education, College of Agricultural Sciences, and Jessica Bagdonis, Doctoral Student in Agricultural and Extension Education. “Scholarship Informed by the Community: Aligning Community Needs and Student Research Projects”
Lonnie Graham, Assistant Professor of Photography, College of Arts and Architecture. “Art 397A: Art and Social Activism: Radio Communication System for the Inhabitants of Collingwood Bay Papua New Guinea”
Marla Jaksch, Lorraine Dowler, and Toby Jenkins, (University Park), and Lee de Reus (Altoona), Women’s Studies, Geography, Africa & African American Studies, Human Development & Family Studies. “WMNST 497A: Feminism, Art, & Global Activism: Service Learning in Tanzania Summer 2007”
Laura Guertin, Assistant Professor of Earth Science, Penn State Delaware County. “Utilizing Emerging Technologies to Showcase Significant Democratic Events and People from the Past 40 Years”
Jennifer Mittelstadt, Assistant Professor of History and Women’s Studies, College of the Liberal Arts, and Natalie Jolly, Doctoral Candidate in Rural Sociology and Women’s Studies. ”The Public Scholarship in Women’s Studies Handbook”
Kristina Ricketts, Assistant Professor of Agricultural and Extension Education, College of Agricultural Sciences. “Enhancing Leadership Instruction through Distance Education—AEE 460: Foundations of Leadership Development”
Lakshman Yapa, Professor of Geography, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, and Matthew Kelley, Doctoral Candidate in Geography. “A Virtual Home for the Philadelphia Field Project”
Mary Lou Zimmerman Munn, Lecturer in Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, College of the Liberal Arts. “Democracy and Crisis in Ancient Athens: Redesigning CAMS 25, Greek Civilization for Interactive Learning and Democratic Capacity Building”
2006 Recipients
Peter Aeschbacher, Assistant Professor in Architecture and Landscape Architecture at University Park, for the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture’s 2006 Summer Program in Panama;
Dorothy Blair, Assistant Professor in Nutritional Sciences at University Park, for NUTR/STS 497G: Community Food Security;
Carol Colbeck, Associate Professor in the Center for the Study of Higher Education at University Park, for a study of faculty motivation to engage in Public Scholarship;
Laura Guertin, Assistant Professor in Earth Science at Penn State Delaware County, and Elinor Madigan, Assistant Professor in IST at Penn State Scuylkill, for the development of Science and Technology Modules for use by instructors of YFE 211, Foundations of Civic and Community Engagement;
Frank Higdon, Senior Lecturer in Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology at University Park, for enhancement RSOC 417: Conflict and Community Decision-making—Affordable Housing in Centre County;
Marla Jaksch and Lorraine Dowler, faculty in the Women’s Studies Program at University Park, for WMNST 497A: Feminism, Art, and Global Activism: Service Learning in East Africa;
Dana Mitra, Assistant Professor in Education Policy Studies at University Park, for enhancement of EDTH 420: Education and Public Policy;
Robert Speel, Associate Professor of Political Science at Penn State Erie, for enhancement of POLSC 127: Politics and Government in Washington DC;
Nicole Webster, Assistant Professor in Agricultural and Extension Education at University Park, for a study of outcomes for students engaged in the international service-learning and research project in Belize (RSOC 497A);
Brent Yarnall, Professor, and Howard Greenberg, Senior Research Associate, both in Earth and Mineral Sciences at University Park, for development of GEOG 493A: Service Learning: The Centre County Community Energy Project.
2003 Recipients
Ken Tamminga (Landscape Architecture) and Andy Cole (Landscape Architecture and Ecology) for LArch 453, a new interdisciplinary course in community-based ecological restoration.
Ken Tamminga and Tom Yahner (both Landscape Architecture) for “Susquehanna Studio”--opportunities for engagement between students, faculty and communities in Pennsylvania, especially along the North Branch of the Susquehanna.
Chris Benner (Geography) for Geography 420W, Race, Class and the New Economy: Inequality, Poverty and Urban Development in Pittsburgh and Durban.
Peter DeNardis (IST) and JoAnn Chirico (Sociology) for development and continuation of Service Learning Program at Beaver.
Ed Green (IST) for IST 440W in which student develop an information system to support the Pennsylvania Association of Adult Continuing Educators (PACCE).
2002 Recipients
Kathryn Drager, Communication, UP
Karen Durst, Theatre Arts, UP
Stan Hunter Kranc, English, UP
Elias Mpofu, Education, UP
Mark Radomsky, Energy and Geo-Environmental Engineering, UP
Laurie Grobman, English, Berks Campus
Angela Hissong, Occupational Therapy, Mont Alto Campus
Lauren Jacobson, Human Development and Family Studies, Mont Alto Campus
Valerie Stratton, Psychology, Altoona
Robert Walters, Engineering, McKeesport Campus
2001 Recipients
Stephen R. Couch, Professor of Sociology
Nancy Kurtz, Internship Coordinator and Instructor in Human Development and Family Studies
Peter E. Linehan, Assistant Professor of Forestry at Penn State Mont Alto
Rebecca Moore Peterson, Instructor of Biology
Shannon Sullivan, Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Women’s Studies
The Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching provided funding for another four public scholarship faculty whose proposals met the criteria for the Fund for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (FELT). FELT grants were awarded to:
Samuel Dennis, Instructor of Landscape Architecture
Kevin Galbraith, Assistant Professor of Health and Human Development at Penn State Altoona
Christine Gorby, Assistant Professor of Architecture, working with Michael Rios, Assistant Professor of Architecture and Director of the Hamer Center for Community Design Assistance
Nancy Love, Associate Professor of Political Science and Speech Communication
Annual Faculty Seminars
A Blueprint for Public Scholarship, Spring 2003
Participants:
Judy Albin, Teresina Bailey, Julie Beirelein, Dr. Chris Benner, Laura Bodenschatz, Beth Bradley, Hans Arora, Dr. Ian Baptiste, Jeremy Beitler, Dr. James Birge, Stephanie Bogdan, Karen Brooks, Stephanie Bryant, Ardee Burno, Jr., Janice Butler, Martha Carothers, Dr. Josephine Carubia, Jeremy Cohen, Lindsay Burleight, Elaine Burns, Dr. Gary Calore, Arthur Carter, Rev. Clarice Chambers, Carol Colbeck, Myra Covington, Michael Dann, Samuel Dennis, Barbara Dickerson, Ashley Dugan, Scott Duncan, Tineke Cunning, Jeff Detrich, Liz Derias, Matthew DiDonat, Larissa Duncan, James Eisenstein, Robert Fay, Cary Fraser, Kevin Gombotz, Emily Grosholz, Susanne Hackett, David Hall, Connie Flanagan, Azi Ghaffari, Laurie Grobman, Heather Gunther, David Hall, Miguel Hernandez, Frank Higdon, Emmalynne Hu, Mary Hutchinson, Roger Ideishi, Gaye Jenkins, Alfredo Jimenez, Angela Hissong, Jesse Hunting, Paul Hutta, Jan Jacobs, Lewis Jillings, Neill Johnson, Deb Jones, Mathew Kepler, Ermyn King, Cinda Kostyak, Jason Lally, Laura Lawfer, Ashish Kapoor, Karson Kiesinger, James Knauer, Lynette Kvasny, Anne Laux, Roderick Lee, Martha Leva, Laura Lippert, Cathleen Love, Abigail Maletta, Lauren Merian, Beth Montemurro, Teri Linder, Fredrick Loomis, Nancy Love, Jennifer Mastrofski, Julie Miller, Takkeem Morgan, Lisa Morris, Hleziphi Nyanugo, Jeffrey Parker, Kimberly Powell, David Riley, Jes Scott, Elias Mpofu, Simone Osthoff, Alex Piehl, Mark Radomsky, Ellyn Schuette, Stephanie Sheffer, Juliet Smith, Jessica Spacht, Nicole Stockey, Elinami Swai, Peeter Tameveski, Chris Uhl, Lourdes Soto, Craig Stark, Valerie Stratton, Andrew Swartzell, Corinne Thatcher, Isabel Valdivia, Stephen Van Ginkel, Ashley Waddell, G. E. Washington, Carole Wells, Joy Wiegand, Charles Willis, Jodi Vender, James Walsh, Ashley Weininger, Patty Wharton Michael, Huston Williams, John Wilson, Elisabeth Workman, Lakshman Yapa, Jun Zhang, Kylie Yanock, Gwen Zarambo
A National Public Scholarship Conversation, November 12 & 13, 2004
Participants:
James Birge, Executive Director, PA Campus Compact; David Brancaccio, Co-host, NOW with Bill Moyers; Arthur Carter, Assistant VP for Student Affairs; Jeremy Cohen, Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education; Carol Colbeck, Director, Center for the Study of Higher Education; Nadinne Cruz, California Campus Compact; Steven Danish, Director, Life Skills Center, Virginia Commonwealth University; Samuel Dennis, Jr., Asst. Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Rosa Eberly, Associate Professor, Penn State; Constance Flanagan, Professor, Penn State; Dwight Giles, Professor, UMASS Boston; Lorrain Gutierrez, Faculty Director, University of Michigan; Ira Harkavy, Associate VP and Director, UPenn; Kathleen Hill; Project Coordinator, John Glenn Scholars in Service-Learning, The Ohio State University; Robin Hoecker, Program Assistant, Fredrich Ebert Foundation; Elizabeth Hollander, Executive Director, Campus Compact; Mary Taylor Huber, Senior Scholar, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; Peter Levine, Deputy Director, CIRCLE; John Nichols, Associate Dean, Penn State; Robert O’Connor, Program Director, National Science Foundation; Kerry Ann O’Meara, Assistant Professor of Higher Education, UMASS Amherst; Jeffrey Parker, Associate Professor of Psychology, Penn State; Scott Peters, Assistant Professor of Education, Cornell; Judith Ramaley, Assistant Director, Directorate for Education, National Science Foundation; David Riley, Assoicate Professor of Architectural Engineering, Penn State; Naomi Scheman, Professor of Philosophy, University of Minnesota; Michael Schudson, Professor of Communications, University of California – San Diego; Nancy Tuana, Director, Rock Ethics Institute, Penn State; Nicole Webster, Assistant Professor, Penn State; Patty Wharton Michael, Doctoral Candidate, Penn State; Deborah White, Program Officer, Kettering Foundation; Lakshman Yapa, Professor of Geography, Penn State.
A Scholarship for Democracy, Saturday, April 14, 2007
Keynote Speaker:
David Sanger, The New York Times Chief Washington Correspondent
Seminar Faculty:
Laura McGann, Recipient, 2007 Scripps Howard “Distinguished Service to the First Amendment Award”
Peter Levine, Director of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), University of Maryland, College Park
Wendy Fishman, Research scholar in the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Lisa Lattuca, Senior research associate and associate professor of Higher Education, Penn State Center for the Study of Higher Education
A Capacity to Sustain Democracy, 2007-2008
Guests:
Dr. Diana Mutz, Samuel A. Stouffer Professor of Political Science and Communication, University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Nel Noddings, Lee L. Jacks Professor of Education Emerita, Stanford University
Dr. David J. Helfand, Chair of Dept. of Astronomy and co-chair of “Frontiers in Science” curriculum, Columbia University
Seminar Participants:
Peter Aeschbacher, Dawn Blasko, Lisa Brown, John Carroll, JoAnn Chirico, Jeremy Cohen, Milton Cole, Rob Crane, Richard Cyr, Ann Dodd, Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, Rosa Eberly, Michael Elavsky, Richard Fitzimmons, Cary Fraser, Yvonne Gaudelius, Lonnie Graham, Anna Griswold, Emily Janke, Ken Jenkins, Nancy Kranich, Lisa Lattuca, Dana Mitra, Mary Lou Zimmerman Munn, Mark Munn, Sondra Myers, Jack Selzer, Wayne Smutz, Marica Tacconi, Sandy Thatcher, Nancy Tuana, Eric White, Lucky Yapa
Laboratory Publications & Presentations
Cohen, J., & Yapa, L. (Eds.). (2003). A blueprint for public scholarship at Penn State. University Park: Penn State University.
Eberly, R., & Cohen, J. (Eds.). (2006). A laboratory for public scholarship and democracy. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, No. 105. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
The University and Civil Society: Autonomy and Responsibility. International Conference, University of Bologna, Italy, May 2006.
Cohen, J., & Rosa, E. Campus Compact 20th Anniversary Summit. Chicago, Autumn 2006.
Graduate Student Group
The Public Scholarship Graduate Student Group is an informal, interdisciplinary group of approximately 30 graduate students interested in exploring the tenets and implications of public scholarship as they relate to our current work as students and to our future work as faculty members, administrators, and other types of researchers and leaders. The group meets approximately once a month, over lunch, to discuss issues related to the intersections of public scholarship with teaching, research, and service. We also welcome faculty who are involved in public scholarship to join our on-going conversations.
Undergraduate Exhibition, Public Scholarship Category
Penn State's annual Undergraduate Exhibition communicates and celebrates the participation of undergraduate students from across the University in research and creative endeavors. Public Scholarship is a special Exhibition category recognizing scholarly work that actively contributes to community engagement and democracy. Public scholars apply disciplinary expertise to problems and issues of consequence to communities beyond the classroom. In this category, students are able to showcase academic and creative work contributing directly to the artistic, civic, cultural, economic, educational, environment, scientific, or social well-being of local, national, or global communities. Undergraduate students from all Penn State campuses are invited to enter poster or performance presentations to showcase their work to a general audience.
2008 Recipients
1st Prize: Eric Schoon, Bachelor of Philosophy Program & College of Arts and Architecture, The System and the Soldier: How Personal Values Interact with Military Values
2nd Prize: Jennifer Fang, College of Health and Human Development, Family Foundations Project
3rd Prize: Elyssa Okkelberg & Alex Weisler, Schreyer Honors College, Highlighting Humanity
2007 Recipients
1st Prize: Mary Nunn, Landscape Architecture, College of Arts and Architecture, Reconnecting People and Place: Spring Creek Canyon Management Strategy
2nd Prize: Aline Niyonkuru, International Politics, College of the Liberal Arts, Burundi Education and Duhindikibiri Projects
3rd Prize: Genevieve Wilde, Secondary Education – Biological Science, College of Education, Evaluation and Revision of a National Standards-Based 4-H Embryology Curriculum
2006 Recipient
1st Prize: Elody Gyekis, College of Art and Architecture, “Mulberry Street” Bridge, Community Mural Project in Harrisburg
2005 Recipients
1st Prize: Daniel Reynolds, Jesse Hunting, Maia Tampini, & Cori Thatcher, Harrisburg’s Action Network for Development and Service (HANDS)
2nd Prize: Natalie Hutnick, Exercise Intervention and Lymphocyte Activation Before and After Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer
2004 Recipients
1st Prize: Joe Gyekis
2nd Prize: David Ruggiero
Public Writing Initiative
Penn State’s Public Writing Initiative, formerly the Leonhard Center Technical Writing Initiative, has a twelve-year history of producing professional-quality documents for local organizations through its “commissioned assignment” program. Students in English 202, with the assistance of peer tutors from the Undergraduate Writing Center called Writing Fellows, work with commissioners to produce the commissioned documents. For example, during the spring 2004 semester, one class produced a number of brochures on agricultural pests for the Penn State Agricultural Extension. Of particular interest is a pilot project that uses a commissioned assignment from the Public Issues Forums (PIF) of Centre County Steering Committee. It is a CEW public scholarship project endorsed by the Laboratory for Public Scholarship and Democracy.
Constitution Day
Constitution Day, a federally mandated recognition of the Constitution, has been celebrated annually at Penn State since 2005. Students, staff, and faculty work together to embed the Constitution’s blueprint for democracy into the curriculum.
Website for the Laboratory for Public Scholarship and Democracy
Launched in 2005, the site was redesigned during the spring and summer of 2007 and went on line in September 2007. http://www.publicscholarship.psu.edu
American Democracy Project affiliation (with The New York Times)
The American Democracy Project is a multi-campus initiative that seeks to create an intellectual and experiential understanding of civic engagement for undergraduates enrolled at institutions that are members of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). The goal of the project is to produce graduates who understand and are committed to engaging in meaningful actions as citizens in a democracy.
Peter Aeschbacher, Dawn Blasko, Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, Laura Guertin, & Mary Lou Zimmerman Munn attended the Civic Engagement in Action Workshop: Stewardship of Public Lands in August 2007 in Yellowstone National Park. Using Yellowstone National Park as a case study, the team spent a week in Yellowstone National Park with ADP leadership and the Yellowstone Association, studying public land use controversies and discussing strategies to meld scholarship and democratic stewardship.
Visiting & Invited Speakers
Bill Siemering, Founding President Developing Radio Partners (April 2006)
Charlotte Hill O’Neal, Co-Director of the United African Alliance Community Center, Tanzania (November 2006)
Michael Delli Carpini, Dean, Annenberg School of Communication, University of Pennsylvania (February 2007)
David Sanger, Chief Washington Correspondent, The New York Times (April 2007)
Peter Levine, Director, CIRCLE (April 2007)
Wendy Fischman, Harvard Graduate School of Education (April 2007)
Laura McGann, Dow Jones Newswire, Washington, DC (April 2007)
Diana Mutz, Samuel A. Stouffer Professor of Political Science and Communication, University of Pennsylvania (October 2007)
Nel Noddings, Lee L. Jacks Professor of Education Emerita, Stanford University (November 2007)
David J. Helfand, Chair, Department of Astronomy, Columbia University & Co-Chair, Columbia’s Frontiers in Science Undergraduate Core Curriculum, Co-Director of Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory (February 2008)
June 2008