Educating Citizens: Civic Engagement and the Urban/Metropolitan University

Abstract

The recent pledge by 400 college and university presidents to reinvigorate the civic mission of their institution is an impetus for members of academe to more clearly define "civic engagement." This paper is a first step in the exploration of this concept at a Southern California university campus. Five faculty from four colleges are interviewed regarding their perceptions of "civic engagement" and the relevance of the values of their discipline to this activity.