{"id":10215,"date":"2012-11-19T10:57:46","date_gmt":"2012-11-19T15:57:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/?p=10215"},"modified":"2012-11-19T10:57:46","modified_gmt":"2012-11-19T15:57:46","slug":"centers-for-politics-in-higher-ed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/?p=10215","title":{"rendered":"centers for politics in higher ed"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am spending today at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics<\/a> at St. Anselm’s College in Manchester, NH. I will give a public talk here and also meet to discuss the Institute’s programs. I’ve done much the same thing (i.e., speak and consult) at several similar centers, including the Graham Center for Public Service at the University of Florida<\/a>, PACE<\/a> (the Political and Civic Engagement Program) at Indiana University, and the Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement at University of Illinois-Chicago<\/a>. I also serve on the advisory boards of the Center for Civic Literacy<\/a> at IUPUI in Indianapolis, Cambridge University\u2019s Forum for Youth Participation & Democracy<\/a>; the Center for Engaged Democracy at Merrimack College<\/a>; and the California Civic Engagement Project<\/a> at UC-Davis. I am recently back from the Netter Center for Community Partnerships<\/a> at Penn, and I work full-time for the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service<\/a> at Tufts.<\/p>\n

In reflecting on these centers (and many others that I know more vicariously), I see some common themes and strategic choices:<\/p>\n

They are all nonpartisan efforts, but they are concerned, in part, with explicitly political<\/em> participation. They challenge two prevailing trends. In political science, politics is treated remotely and dispassionately, as something to be analyzed but not practiced by the political scientist or student. Meanwhile, in community service and service-learning, explicitly political<\/em> action is often marginal or even discouraged. In contrast, most of these centers cite political action in their mission statements.<\/p>\n

They almost all seek to combine practical experiences for students (such as internships or service projects) with academic study, plus intellectually challenging events and discussions, faculty-led research, and collaborations between the college or university and its neighbors.<\/p>\n

They are almost all physical places on campuses that attract people with political and civic interests, but without a bias toward a particular ideology or party.<\/p>\n

The differences among the centers are also significant. They indicate the choices one would have to make in starting or reorienting a center like this:<\/p>\n