Civic life in its healthiest state is a dynamic, open, and reflective system that serves the needs of the public and improves the quality of life for all its members. A vibrant civic sphere helps citizens become less vulnerable to exploitation, hardship, harm, and allows everyday voices access to the powers that influence their lives.Yet most citizens today feel that the political arena has become too hostile, irrational, and polarized to expend their energy trying to affect it. Texas in particular is experiencing some of the lowest levels of civic engagement in the nation. The framework of this report holds on to both the notion that a healthy civic sphere is vital to the social fabric of our nation and to idea that citizens have legitimate reasons why they do not currently engage more in the process. These new dynamics in the landscape of political life warrant a moment of reflection which this retrospective seeks to offer. This paper uses Current Population Survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau to explore whether we are we asking the right questions, if we have enough information, and outlines what the data we do have is telling us about civic life in Texas. / text

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1926. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves i-vii).

Thesis (M.S. in Architecture)--University of California, Berkeley, May 1910. / Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

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Thesis advisor: Michael Malec / American universities provide undergraduate students with seemingly endless opportunities for civic engagement. According to a recent report released by Boston College, students volunteer more than 444,000 hours of community service throughout the year (Community Benefits and Service Programs). This honors thesis offers a critical exploration of students’ attitudes towards civic engagement and how they make meaning of the change-making processes in which they choose to engage. The research was designed to explore how students feel about civic engagement divided into two main categories: service and politics. Declining political participation has become a characteristic identifier of young adults today. How, then, does this generational trend fit into the civic engagement story of Boston College? By exploring students’ civic and political attitudes, one can make sense of the decisions students make regarding how they can best produce social change in a democratic society, namely whether they select a service-oriented or political path. First, this research aims to highlight the crucial intersections and interdependencies between involvement in both service and politics. In other words, the change-making capacity of either service or politics is limited when the two are considered mutually exclusive. Second, this research aims to assess whether students draw parallels Boston College undergraduates between service and politics. Ultimately, this research aims to inspire undergraduates at Boston College and elsewhere to develop civic identities, which incorporate service-oriented and political ideals. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Sociology.

abstract: An increase of attention towards our nation’s civic participation downturn has brought the concept of civic engagement to the forefront of young people’s lives. Traditional teaching of long-standing democratic processes via education institutes have begun to evolve in how youth can participate civically, impacting social change within their communities. Civics instruction and learning implemented through a progressive pedagogical approach encompasses a greater focus on student-centered instruction, brings relevance to national history, as well as the historical ideals of democracy, and transposes this knowledge unto communities of today. Thus, youth may no longer be considered passive agents within the realm of social change, as they can experience empowerment when working with educators and the greater community. Current civic participation among young people across the United States, however, seems to be paving the way for civic disengagement. Drawing on the progressive education literature and statistical data on civic engagement and youth (particularly in the U. S. and Arizona), this study addresses the need for a civics-based progressive educational shift within the Arizona school system and other educational institutions. In addition to further outlining the need to cultivate civic engagement pedagogies amongst youth today, this thesis explores the construct of Arizona’s Excellence in Civic Engagement Program, which the Arizona Department of Education, in partnership with various community organizations, has established and implemented as a research-based, free standing (separate from state standards) youth civic engagement program. Three participating schools’ program applications are analyzed in regard to the inclusion of democratic ideals and themes, including how these schools enable students to become civically engaged, both within the school setting and greater community. I argue that for the future of this state, nation, and world, young people must be exposed to and engaged with participative opportunities and the civic education interconnectivity in their communities. This study examines the civics-based, progressive education themes needed in schools and educational institutions in order to empower Arizona’s youth and increase efforts to impact social change through civic education. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Social and Cultural Pedagogy 2015

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

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Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University