Civic Engagement in Higher Education

Since 1985, Professor Emeritus of History Lee Benson, as well as the author, along with numerous colleagues, have worked to develop university-assisted community schools in West Philadelphia, where the University of Pennsylvania is located. Committed to undergraduate teaching and convinced by their personal experiences, they designed an Honors Seminar to stimulate undergraduates to think critically about what Penn should do to remedy the rapid deterioration of West Philadelphia-- a development that had devastating consequences for the university. (author)