UNIVERSITIES
AS SITES OF CITIZENSHIP: A GLOBAL CAMPUS COLLABORATION
Penn Retains BRL to Develop a Landmark Higher Education Sponsorship
Platform
What do students from the University of Bergen (Norway), Tavrida
National University (Ukraine) and the University of Iowa
have in common? They are participating in the Universities
as Sites of Citizenship project, a global research program
whose mission is to identify ways that colleges and universities
are involved in the shaping of democratic institutions. They
are, in essence, global citizens and students at Global U.
The mission of the Universities of Sites of Citizenship (USC)
is to establish a worldwide network of self-sustaining programs
and publications promoting democracy in education and responsible
citizenship on campuses, communities and in the corporate arena.
The tri-phase project is a unique sponsorship platform -- being
designed and marketed by BRL -- for global and regional companies
interested in engaging the burgeoning audience of college communities
participating in the program around the world.
Conceived in the Council of Europe (CoE), the USC is a timely
endeavor supported and lead by the efforts of professors Henry
Teune, Frank Plantan, and Ira Harkavy at the University of
Pennsylvania. With funding from the CoE and the National Science
Foundation, and sponsorship by the International Consortium
for Higher Education, Civic Responsibility and Democracy, Phase
1 (the pilot study) was launched in 1999 and completed in May
2002. Among its accomplishments:
• Design
of multi-lingual research instruments
• Collection of baseline data
• Publication of results through the American Political Science
Association, American Association for Higher Education, the
CoE
• Publication of articles in Political Psychologist, PS: Political
Science and Politics and The Presidency
Phase
2, planned to begin in late 2005, will expand the program
to over 200 additional sites worldwide, with coordination continuing
through Penn.
Click
here for a complete Program Summary.
