Call for Papers: Student Learning for Social Change: Interdisciplinary Community-Based Research

Deadline: December 15, 2008

How can higher education most effectively prepare future citizens for the enterprising work necessary for social sustainability and advancement? In this book, we advance interdisciplinary public or community-based research as a transformative higher education strategy to answer this call. Partnerships that involve citizens and public leaders, diverse faculty and students in collaborative community-based inquiry and action hold promise for a unique combination of pedagogical, scholarly, and public outcomes necessary for facing 21st century challenges.

This book will explore and offer models and practical strategies for interdisciplinary CBR projects as undergraduate pedagogy. The ways in which interdisciplinary CBR projects can contribute at once to student learning, community, and scholarly outcomes will be discussed. Special attention will be given to innovative strategies for students' learning in this unique public and interdisciplinary context - including learning contexts (e.g., learning communities, community-campus collaborative networks, novel learning structures, communities as learning contexts), student preparation strategies (e.g., course sequences, orientation approaches, gateway experiences), mentoring approaches to prompt deepening civic development, and techniques for advancing interdisciplinary deliberation and innovation. Illustrative case studies, including an array of academic disciplines, community sectors, and pressing issues will provide readers with diverse examples of the transformative potential of interdisciplinary CBR projects. Student learning outcomes assessment, as well as assessments of community impacts and social change outcomes will be included and reflected upon to inform best practice development. Strategies for planning and implementing interdisciplinary CBR projects will be provided, including perspectives from the different partners in such ventures.

Invitation for Proposals

Proposals (1000 - 1500 words in length) are invited that detail contribution(s) to advancing understanding of interdisciplinary CBR as undergraduate pedagogy and as a social change agent. Invitees are encouraged to share this call for proposals with community partners; collaborative proposals are encouraged.

Contact Tricia Thorme, tthorme@princeton.edu, with any questions.