Democratic Education in an Age of Difference: Redefining Citizenship in Higher Education

"An excellent resource for faculty and student affairs professionals in all segments of higher education who want to better understand their mutual relationships and responsibilities in preparing students for a pluralist democracy." - Gwen Dungy, executive director, NASPA This book addresses the need for colleges and universities to design educational experiences that promote the objectives of a free society while recognizing and embracing difference. The authors detail some of the experiments taking place across American campuses and reveal how each approach fosters the development of democratic sensibility, citizenship skills, and multicultural appreciation.

Table of Contents:
1. Democracy and Difference: Emerging Concepts of Identity, Diversity, and Community - Richard Guarasci, Grant H. Cornwell; 2. Community Based Learning and Intercultural Citizenship - Richard Guarasci; 3. Finding Community Across Boundaries: Service Learning in Women's Studies - Mary K. Trigg, Barbara J. Balliet; 4. Residential Colleges: Laboratories for Teaching Through Differnece - Grant H. Cornwell, Eve Stoddard; 5. Learning Communities: Collaborative Approaches to Engaging Differences - Roberta S. Matthews, Daniel J. Lynch; 6. Intergroup Relations, Conflict, and Community - David Schoem; 7. Liberal Education as Intercultural Praxis: Citizenship in a Diverse Democracy - Richard Guarasci, Grant H. Cornwell

About the Author :
RICHARD GUARASCI is dean of Hobart College and professor of political science at Hobart and William Smith College in New York. GRANT H. CORNWELL is associate dean and associate professor of philosophy at St. Lawrence University in New York.

Review :
?In a time of cacophonic claims and narrowing horizons, a critical challenge seems to face liberal education: how to link intellectual performance to the imperative of a multicultural American civilization. The unusual and practical solutions offered in this book should be read by all who are confronting this critical issue.? — Ahmed I. Samatar, dean and professor, International Studies and Programming, Macalester College "An excellent resource for faculty and student affairs professionals in all segments of higher education who want to better understand their mutual relationships and responsibilities in preparing students for a pluralist democracy.? --Gwen Dungy, executive director, NASPA "Campus leaders besieged by critiques of the academy will find this book a wellspring of inspiration, encouragement, and practical examples. Guarasci, Cornwell, and their colleagues show us that, beyond the rhetorical storm we call the culture wars, faculty members are inventing new forms of learning and service in which students engage the complexity of American experience and learn to take new kinds of responsibility for the quality of our communal lives. An inspiring book." --Carol Schneider, executive vice president, Association of American Colleges and Univerirector, American Commitments: Diversity, Democracy and Liberal Learning "Democratic Education in an Age of Difference proposes a curricular response to the contemporary dilemma in the U.S.: how to reconcile the quintessential American dream of an ideal democratic community with the culture of difference which characterizes our society today. The authors eloquently and persuasively argue that institutions of higher learning must maintain an ethos which not only defines and dignifies difference theoretically, but also in practice. A focused and pragmatic discussion of an issue central to today's campuses." --Tamar March, dean, Academic Programs, Radcliffe College ?In a time of cacophonic claims and narrowing horizons, a critical challenge seems to face liberal education: how to link intellectual performance to the imperative of a multicultural American civilization. The unusual and practical solutions offered in this book should be read by all who are confronting this critical issue.? --Ahmed I. Samatar, dean and professor, International Studies and Programming, Macalester College