Civic matters affect all members of a community and are thus of potential concern to all. In Community Matters: Challenges to Civic Engagement in the 21st Century, six distinguished scholars address three perennial challenges of civic life: the making of a citizen, how citizens are to agree (and disagree), and how to define the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. The thought-provoking essays in this volume discuss integral civic concerns such as: how can we improve civic education? How do we address controversy within our communities? What are the responsibilities of a citizen? Should the national draft be re-instated in the U.S? These essays will encourage students, academics, and interested citizens outside the academy to go farther and dig deeper into these vital issues.

A century ago, Americans launched a period of civic renewal and political reform. Today, amid deep dissatisfaction with our major institutions, there are signs that a new movement may revive the spirit of the original Progressive Era. Peter Levine draws inspiration from the great Progressive leader Robert M. La Follete, Sr., and his circle, which included John Dewey, Jane Addams, and Louis Brandeis. He discusses the shortcomings of this group as well as their successes, but he argues that their ideal of a fair and deliberative democracy is right for our time. Combining their philosophy and experience with the best contemporary proposals, Levine advocates campaign finance reform, an entirely different approach to regulation, new styles of journalism and civic education, and fundamental changes in the tax system. Combining philosophical arguments, historical background, empirical data, and concrete proposals, The New Progressive Era offers todayOs most comprehensive plan for civic renewal and political reform.

The spread of new information and communications technologies during the past two decades has helped reshape civic associations, political communities, and global relations. In the midst of the information revolution, we find that the speed of this technology-driven change has outpaced our understanding of its social and ethical effects. The moral dimensions of this new technology and its effects on social bonds need to be questioned and scrutinized: Should the Internet be understood as a new form of public space and a source of public good? What are we to make of hackers? Does the Internet strengthen or weaken community? In The Internet in Public Life, essayists confront these and other important questions. This timely and necessary volume makes clear the need for a broader conversation about the effects of the Internet, and the questions raised by these seven essays highlight some of the most pressing issues at hand.

A broad theory of civic life that asks the question "What should we do?" and shows how to ask it well for civic engagement. People who want to improve the world must ask the fundamental civic question: "What should we do?" Although the specific issues and challenges people face are enormously diverse, they often encounter problems of collective action (how to get many individuals to act in concert), of discourse (how to talk and think productively about contentious matters), and of exclusion. To get things done, they must form or join and sustain functional groups, and through them, develop skills and virtues that help them to be effective and responsible civic actors. In What Should We Do?, Peter Levine, one of America's leading scholars and practitioners of civic engagement, identifies the general challenges that confront people who ask the citizens' question and explores solutions. Ultimately, his goal is to provide a unified theoretical foundation for effective civic engagement and citizen action. Levine draws from three rich traditions: research on collective action by Elinor Ostrom and her colleagues, work on deliberation and discourse by Jürgen Habermas, and the nonviolent social movements led by Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. Using real-world examples, he develops a theory of citizen action that can effectively wrestle with these problems so that they don't destabilize movements. A broad theory of civic life, What Should We Do? turns from the question of what makes a society just to the question of how to relate to our fellow human beings in a context of injustice. And it offers pragmatic guidance for people who seek to improve the world.

The concern that the democratic purposes of higher education, and its foundation as a public good is being undermined, together with the realization that existing structures are unsuited to addressing today's complex societal problems, and that our institutions are failing an increasingly diverse population, are all giving rise to questioning the current model of the university. This book presents the voices of a new generation of scholars, educators, and practitioners who are committed to civic renewal and the public purposes of higher education. They question existing policies, structures, and practices, and put forward new forms of engagement that can help to shape and transform higher education to align it with societal needs. The scholars featured in this book make the case for public scholarship and argue that, in order to strengthen the democratic purposes of higher education for a viable future that is relevant to the needs of a changing society, we must recognize and support new models of teaching and research, and the need for fundamental changes in the core practices, policies, and cultures of the academy. These scholars act on their values through collaboration, inclusiveness, participation, task sharing, and reciprocity in public problem solving. Central to their approach is an authentic respect for the expertise and experience that all stakeholders contribute to education, knowledge generation, and community building. This book offers a vision of the university as a part of an ecosystem of knowledge production, addressing public problems with the purpose of advancing a more inclusive, deliberative democracy; and explores the new paradigm for teaching, learning, and knowledge creation necessary to make it a reality.

The concern that the democratic purposes of higher education, and its foundation as a public good is being undermined, together with the realization that existing structures are unsuited to addressing today's complex societal problems, and that our institutions are failing an increasingly diverse population, are all giving rise to questioning the current model of the university. This book presents the voices of a new generation of scholars, educators, and practitioners who are committed to civic renewal and the public purposes of higher education. They question existing policies, structures, and practices, and put forward new forms of engagement that can help to shape and transform higher education to align it with societal needs. The scholars featured in this book make the case for public scholarship and argue that, in order to strengthen the democratic purposes of higher education for a viable future that is relevant to the needs of a changing society, we must recognize and support new models of teaching and research, and the need for fundamental changes in the core practices, policies, and cultures of the academy. These scholars act on their values through collaboration, inclusiveness, participation, task sharing, and reciprocity in public problem solving. Central to their approach is an authentic respect for the expertise and experience that all stakeholders contribute to education, knowledge generation, and community building. This book offers a vision of the university as a part of an ecosystem of knowledge production, addressing public problems with the purpose of advancing a more inclusive, deliberative democracy; and explores the new paradigm for teaching, learning, and knowledge creation necessary to make it a reality.

Pentagon spending has been the target of decades of criticism and reform efforts. Billions of dollars are spent on weapons programs that are later abandoned. State-of-the-art data centers are underutilized and overstaffed. New business systems are built at great expense but fail to meet the needs of their users. Every Secretary of Defense for the last five Administrations has made it a priority to address perceived bloat and inefficiency by making management reform a major priority. The congressional defense committees have been just as active, enacting hundreds of legislative provisions. Yet few of these initiatives produce significant results, and the Pentagon appears to go on, as wasteful as ever. In this book, Peter Levine addresses why, despite a long history of attempted reform, the Pentagon continues to struggle to reduce waste and inefficiency. The heart of Defense Management Reform is three case studies covering civilian personnel, acquisitions, and financial management. Narrated with the insight of an insider, the result is a clear understanding of what went wrong in the past and a set of concrete guidelines to plot a better future.

Pentagon spending has been the target of decades of criticism and reform efforts. Billions of dollars are spent on weapons programs that are later abandoned. State-of-the-art data centers are underutilized and overstaffed. New business systems are built at great expense but fail to meet the needs of their users. Every Secretary of Defense for the last five Administrations has made it a priority to address perceived bloat and inefficiency by making management reform a major priority. The congressional defense committees have been just as active, enacting hundreds of legislative provisions. Yet few of these initiatives produce significant results, and the Pentagon appears to go on, as wasteful as ever. In this book, Peter Levine addresses why, despite a long history of attempted reform, the Pentagon continues to struggle to reduce waste and inefficiency. The heart of Defense Management Reform is three case studies covering civilian personnel, acquisitions, and financial management. Narrated with the insight of an insider, the result is a clear understanding of what went wrong in the past and a set of concrete guidelines to plot a better future.

Researchers have shown that survivors of accidents, disaster, and childhood trauma often endure lifelong symptoms ranging from anxiety and depression to unexplained physical pain, fatigue, illness, and harmful "acting out" behaviors. Today, professionals and clients in both the bodywork and the psychotherapeutic fields nationwide are turning to Peter A. Levine's breakthrough Somatic Experiencing(r) methods to actively overcome these challenges. In Healing Trauma, Dr. Levine gives you the personal how-to guide for using the theory he first introduced in his highly acclaimed work Waking the Tiger. Join him to discover: how to develop body awareness to "renegotiate" and heal traumas by "revisiting" them rather than reliving them; emergency "first-aid" measures for times of distress; and nature's lessons for uncovering the physiological roots of your emotions. "Trauma is a fact of life," teaches Peter Levine, "but it doesn't have to be a life sentence." Now, with one fully integrated self-healing tool, he shares his essential methods to address unexplained symptoms of trauma at their source the body to return us to the natural state in which we are meant to live."

A general study of Jewish participation in American sports, which focuses specifically on baseball, boxing and basketball. The author refutes the assumption that Jewish tradition has not been positive about sporting activities.

""I honestly found this better than my dissertation supervisor. It was never off my desk and I scanned it thoroughly and followed it religiously. Highly recommended with a proven technique to help you gain a good mark "
Amazon reviewer

"This book is, well...excellent Simply and succinctly it takes you through each stage of planning a dissertation."
The Psychologist"

A dissertation is likely to be the largest single piece of work you will be asked to produce. This handy book guides you through the whole process: planning your dissertation project, managing it, and writing it up. It offers friendly and practical advice and addresses all the questions students ask, including: How do I choose a topic? How should I manage my time? How can I make best use of my supervisor? How many chapters should my dissertation have? Which is the best referencing system to use? "Excellent Dissertations Second Edition" is a lively, concise and to-the point guide, which will steer you through the entire dissertation process.

The authors apply their combined clinical experience to offer a complete series of guided practices that have helped thousands to alleviate and often completely recover from chronic pain - even when conventional medical approaches alone have not been effective.

An exploration into the experience of Jewish immigrants in America in the first half of the twentieth century. Asks the question: What part did sport play in the process by which these people became Americans? It is based on the experience of other imigrant groups and minority people especially the rich culture of everyday life created by East European Jewish imigrants, particularly their children.

This book remains the book of choice for students with essays to write

How to read selectively How to take notes effectively How to understand the 'academic speak' in essay questions How to structure your work How to use and cite your sources accurately

Peter Levin has comprehensively updated the book to incorporate student feedback and has included significantly more information on the kinds of material that are available online, and on coping with the attentions of the plagiarism police. The book clarifies all the key issues that students cite as blocks to the development of their writing skills and will help improve the grades of any student who takes the time to adopt the techniques offered. No student with essays to write should be without a copy

"Levine's stories are riveting and subtle, shot through with a muted wisdom and palpable compassion.""―Publisher's Weekly"

Tom Mahoney is the golden boy everyone knew in school: good-looking, charming, an athlete---sought after by women, the envy of men. His success in life seems a foregone conclusion. In "The Appearance of a Hero, "Tom navigates the passage into adulthood, his story chronicled from every perspective but his own.

Tom crisscrosses the country in search of direction, affecting the lives of everyone he meets. The recounting of his illicit affair with an older colleague reveals a young man unprepared for the emotional entanglements that come with love. Tom's father, Stuart, struggles to reconcile Tom's splendor with his shortcomings, as he watches his only child fail to live up to expectations. A young couple befriends an unsuspecting Tom, attempting to extract the very qualities others find so alluring about him. For an aging tennis partner, Tom serves as a lens through which the man is able to understand his early years of fatherhood. A girlfriend, enamored by Tom, attempts to isolate him, with shocking consequences.

As the mythology surrounding Tom grows richer, Tom struggles to understand what exactly has eluded him, and in stories that grow increasingly desperate and heartbreaking, we begin to see that being an icon is not all it's cracked up to be. In this haunting short story collection, Peter Levine offers a portrait of a hero for the twenty-first century, a man whose legend is constructed not by himself but by those around him, all desperate for someone to idolize.

Saturn's Return: A Boomer's Memoir chronicles an upper middle-class son/itinerant musician's emotional, social and historical travelogue during America's heady decades of the 60's and 70's. Beginning shortly after postwar America reaches its economic and political zenith, when the America way of life can still be characterized as a middle-class patriarchy, the author recounts his struggle to pursue his aspirations against the vision of his father- a WWII Naval Reserve Captain-bent on shoehorning him into the military. After graduating high school in 1966 he heads off to Boston University, having enlisted in the Naval Reserve in a flawed compromise. The popular opposition to the war among the young is increasing and spreading throughout the country, drawing him and so many of his generation further away from the moorings of a middle-class life. Over the course of the next decade he pursues the life of an itinerant singer and guitarist until the fading of the counterculture directs him towards consolidating a more permanent identity and coming to terms with his family of origin.

A must for all students involved in. group projects.

This concise, practical guide is for anyone placed. in a group and assigned a project to carry out.. It goes straight to the heart of the matter and. deals pragmatically with common student. concerns such as: . How to allocate work appropriately . How best to communicate and conduct. meetings. How to keep a team together. How to deal with people who are taking. a free ride or who try to dominate. How to work constructively with people. one doesnt knowand people one doesnt. like very much. How to resolve disagreements in the team. How to make good use of teamwork. experience when looking for a job.

This guide helps students appreciate the tensions. among the demands of the task, the needs of the. team, and their own individual needs.. Using this guide, any student can learn from the. teamwork experience and make a success of the. project!.

A. G. Spalding was a key figure in the professionalization and commercialization of American sports. Co-founder of baseball's National League, owner of the Chicago White Stockings (later the Cubs), and founder of a sporting goods business that made him a millionaire, Spalding not only willed baseball to be our national pastime but also contributed to making sport a significant part of American life.

This biography captures the zest, flamboyance, and creativity of Albert Goodwell Spalding, a man of insatiable ego, a showman and entrepreneur, whose life illuminated the hopes and fears of 19th-century Americans. It is a vivid evocation of the vanished world of 19th-century baseball, recreating a time when it was transformed from a game played on unkempt fields to modern style.

We need young people to be civically engaged in order to define and address public problems. Their participation is important for democracy, for institutions such as schools, and for young people themselves, who are more likely to succeed in life if they are engaged in their communities. In The Future of Democracy, Peter Levine, scholar and practitioner, sounds the alarm: in recent years, young Americans have become dangerously less engaged. They are tolerant, patriotic, and idealistic, and some have invented such novel and impressive forms of civic engagement, as blogs, "buycott" movements, and transnational youth networks. But most lack the skills and opportunities they need to participate in politics or address public problems. Levine's timely manifesto clearly explains the causes, symptoms, and repercussions of this damaging trend, and, most importantly, the means whereby America can confront and reverse it. Levine demonstrates how to change young people's civic attitudes, skills, and knowledge and, equally importantly, to reform our institutions so that civic engagement is rewarding and effective. We must both prepare citizens for politics and improve politics for citizens.