One component of our work this semester will be participating in a multi-campus conversation about youth disengagement in the US called "Youth Civic Disengagement: How Do We Move from Apathy to Activism?" This was prepared prepared by Democracy Lab student staff and student civic leadership teams from Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania, the University of North Dakota and the University of South Florida. Their goal is provide a discussion forum that addresses the following:

The decline in youth civic engagement is well documented. In the 1972 presidential election, 48% of 18 to 20-year olds voted. By 1996 turnout had fallen to 31%. While turnout for all ages also declined, from 63 to 54% and then to 51% in 2002, the falloff was much greater for 18 to 20-year olds. Studies at UCLA also reveal a dramatic decline in the percentage of college freshmen who believe following politics is important, from 60% in the 1960s to 28% in 2000. Despite a slight increase in 2003, political attentiveness and participation remain disturbingly low, and studies of this year’s primary elections show no evidence of significant increases in youth voting. While community service requirements have proliferated at high schools and colleges, actual school-based civic education has declined from an average of three courses in the 1960s to only one. About 80% of young people have participated in community service, but many of them see it as a way of avoiding the corruption of politics.

Through your participation in the forum, you will consider four approaches to addressing youth disengagement, but through this class you will also consider whether any of these frameworks is likely to be successful and whether there are alternative frameworks that we should consider. Your final will ask that you evaluate the frameworks and suggest ways that you might modify the frameworks in light of the work that we have done. Regular participation in the forum is a mandatory part of the course. Each week, we will spend class time discussing both course readings and the Democracy Lab discussions.

Course requirements:

1) Participation in Democracy Lab on a regular basis. I will be monitoring your participation. If you are not participating at a reasonable level (this means that you should logon and contribute to the conversation in substantive ways at least 4 times per week, ideally on 4 different days), I will give you a warning. After 1 warning, your grade will be reduced by .5 for each week that you do not participate adequately. To the extent that you can, you should draw from course materials as you participate in the dialogue. Please note: The default grade for participation at the required level will be a 3.25. If you want to receive a higher grade for this part of the course, make contributions that connect course materials to your conversation in a way that regularly prompts interesting responses, log on more, play a leadership role.-- 25%

2) Shorts papers: During the course of the semester, you will write 3 four-five page papers. Each one will require that you address a question designed to integrate required course readings. Some will also ask that you draw from your Democracy Lab discussion. -- 25% (Your best two will be worth 10% each with the weakest of your papers worth 5%).

3) Research Project: Each of you will choose a topic broadly connected to youth and political engagement. You will find readings on your topic, present these readings to other members of your groups, and, collectively, write a literature review of your area. The literature review will be posted on Angel. You must work with at least one other person and may work with no more than two others on this research project. -- 25%

4) Final Paper: In this paper, you will evaluate the alternatives presented in democracy lab by connecting them to course materials and at least one research project in addition to your own. You will also suggest modifications to the Democracy Lab alternatives.-- 25%

For class

Jan. 18th -- Introduction: In class we will read through Youth Civic Disengagement and have a preliminary conversation about the issues presented and democracy lab. In-class preliminary writing assignment.

Jan. 25th -- Key theoretical questions: What is youth? What is citizenship? What does it mean to think about youth citizenship?
Read: Engaging Youth.

Gill Valentine, "Boundary Crossings: Transitions from Childhood to Adulthood." -- See Course Materials in Angel.

Alan France, "'Why Should We Care?' Young People, Citizenship, and Questions of Social Responsibility" -- See Course Materials in Angel.

Feb. 1 -- One half of the class will read Invisible Citizens: Youth Politics After September 11 by Ganesh N. Sitaraman and Previn Warren and half the class will read Millennial Manifesto by Scott Beale and Abeer Abdalla.

Feb. 8th -- Youth and Mainstream Politics, cont. Read:

Richard Kimberlee, "Why Don't British Youth Vote?" -- Angel

Mark Hugo Lopez and Jason P. Kolaczkowski1, "Civic Engagement Among Non-College Attending 18-25 Year Olds" -- Angel

mark Hugo Lopez, "Electoral Engagement Among Latino Youth" -- Angel

Also --read one additional academic articles on a topic connected to your book from week 3.

Paper #1 due.

Feb. 15th -- Key transitions: Sites of growth/individualization or control/social domination? Read Harris, Future Girl: Young Women in the Twenty-First Century, pp. 1- 124.

Feb. 22nd -- Finish Harris. Read two academic essays or one academic essays/visit one web site that Harris cites that you find particularly interesting or read about boys/men in the twenty-first century. You should bring citations and brief abstracts to class.

March 1st -- Youth Cultures: Political, Apolitical, Neither, Both?
Read: Transitions of Youth Citizenship in Europe, pp. 1-40, either 41-60 or 61-80, and any one of the next 4 chapters.

March 8th -- Youth Cultures, cont. due. Read: Transitions of Youth Citizenship in Europe, pp. 271-320 and any 3 additional chapters from p. 157 to the end.

Paper #2 due. The question will be posted in Angel announcements by Sunday 2/27.

March 22nd -- Youth and Rights. Read:
Mary Lou O'Neil, "Youth Curfews in the United States" (Angel)

Roger J. R. Levesque, "The Internationalization of Children's Rights" Connecticut Journal of International Law, 1994: 236-93. Available from LexisNexis.

William Geimer, "Parents, Children, and the Courts," Georgia Law Review, 1988: 949-73. Available from LexisNexis.

Bob Franklin, "Children's Rights: An Introduction," from The New Handbook of Children's Rights. London: Routledge, 2002, 1-11. Available through Angel.

You should also find and read the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

March 29th -- Youth and Rights, cont. Readings to be assigned.
Selections from Bob Franklin, The New Handbook of Children's Rights.These will be available through Angel.

April 5th -- Research Team Meetings.

Paper #3 due.

April 12th -- Research Team Meetings.

April 19th -- Research Presentations.

April 26th -- Research Presentations.

For Democracy Lab

Register on Democracy Lab. You must register by Tuesday, Feb. 1st or you must drop/withdraw from the class.

Introduce yourself to your Democracy Lab group. Consider what you would like to know about others in your group and ask questions. Try to connect your postings to the topic.

Begin your discussion of the alternatives. Remember that your goal is to make connections between you experiences, your thoughts about the topic and the work that you are doing in class. Don't neglect any of the three.