Abstract
The world has become more interconnected and complex, and will require future leaders who are equipped for responsible participation in a diverse, democratic society (Bernstein and Cock 1997; Checkoway 2001; Colby et al. 2003; Ehrlich 2000; Jacoby 2009; Levine 2007; Thomas 2010). In their critical roles as “agents of democracy,” colleges and universities across the USA are charged with preparing their graduates to be active, effective citizens who can consciously contribute to the nation’s dynamic democracy (Boyte and Hollander 1999, p. 8). The roots of this charge can be traced to the birth of the colonial nation, when Thomas Jefferson combined the principles of American democracy and education with objectives to produce public leaders of talent and virtue at the University of Virginia. Since that time, citizenship education has been recognized as a primary function of public higher education in the USA, with a particular accentuation placed upon research universities to educate future citizens, given their intersecting missions of innovation, knowledge generation, public engagement, and education. Given their prioritization on research, scholarship, entrepreneurship, technology, and medicine, among other areas, research universities encounter pressure to contribute back to their immediate communities or support state and federal development; thus, these institutions are inherently driven to be public-oriented or civic-minded in their approaches.
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Soria, K.M., Mitchell, T.D., Nobbe, J. (2016). Developing Undergraduates’ Civic Capabilities: The Unique Contributions of American Public Research Universities. In: Soria, K., Mitchell, T. (eds) Civic Engagement and Community Service at Research Universities. Palgrave Studies in Global Citizenship Education and Democracy. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55312-6_1
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