Learning in the Plural: Essays on the Humanities and Public Life

205 Pages·2014·0.952 MB·English

by  David D. Cooper

L E A R N I N G I N T H E P L U R A L
Transformations in Higher Education:
The Scholarship of Engagement
board of editors
Editor
Hiram E. Fitzgerald, Michigan State University
Associate Editors
Burton Bargerstock, Michigan State University
Laurie Van Egeren, Michigan State University
Consulting Editors
Victor A. Bloomfield, University of Minnesota
Susan J. Bracken, North Carolina State University
Terry L. Cooper, University of Southern California
Jan Cohen- Cruz, Syracuse University
Pennie Foster Fishman, Michigan State University
Dennis Foth, University of Alberta
Ira Harkavy, University of Pennsylvania
Peniel E. Joseph, Brandeis University
Victor Lechtenberg, Purdue University
Oisin MacNamara, Northumbria University
Phil Nyden, Loyola University Chicago
Heather Carmichael Olson, University of Washington
Mark W. Roosa, Arizona State University
Rachel Schiffman, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Francisco Villarruel, Michigan State University
James J. Zuiches, North Carolina State University
L E A R N I N G I N
T H E P L U R A L
E s s a y s o n t h e Hu m a n i t i e s
a n d Pu b l i c L i f e
David D. Cooper
Foreword by Julie Ellison
Afterword by Scott J. Peters
and Timothy K. Eatman
Michigan State University Press
East Lansing
Copyright Main Text © 2014 by David D. Cooper
Copyright Foreword and Afterword © 2014 by Michigan State University
♾ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO
Z39.48- 1992 (R 1997) (Permanence of Paper).
Michigan State University Press
East Lansing, Michigan 48823- 5245
Printed and bound in the United States of America.
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
library of congress cataloging- in- publication data
Cooper, David D.
Learning in the plural : essays on the humanities and public life / David D. Cooper;
foreword by Julie Ellison; afterword by Scott J. Peters and Timothy K. Eatman.
pages cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-61186-112-9 (cloth : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-1-60917-402-6 (ebook) 1.
Humanities—Philosophy. 2. City and town life. I. Title.
AZ103.C59 2014
001.301—dc23 2013020463
Book design by Scribe Inc. (www.scribenet.com)
Cover design by Shaun Allshouse, www.shaunallshouse.com
Cover image ©David D. Cooper and is used with permission
G Michigan State University Press is a member of the Green Press Initiative and
is committed to developing and encouraging ecologically responsible publishing
practices. For more information about the Green Press Initiative and the use of recycled
paper in book publishing, please visit www.greenpressinitiative.org.
Visit Michigan State University Press at www.msupress.org
transformations in higher
education: scholarship
of engagement
The Transformations in Higher Education: Scholarship of
Engagement book series is designed to provide a forum where scholars can
address the diverse issues provoked by community- campus partnerships
that are directed toward creating innovative solutions to societal problems.
Numerous social critics and key national commissions have drawn attention
to the pervasive and burgeoning problems of individuals, families, commu-
nities, economies, health services, and education in American society. Such
issues as child and youth development, economic competitiveness, envi-
ronmental quality, and health and health care require creative research and
the design, deployment, and evaluation of innovative public policies and
intervention programs. Similar problems and initiatives have been articu-
lated in many other countries, apart from the devastating consequences of
poverty that burdens economic and social change. As a consequence, there
has been increasing societal pressure on universities to partner with com-
munities to design and deliver knowledge applications that address these
issues, and to co- create novel approaches to effect system changes that can
lead to sustainable and evidence- based solutions. Knowledge generation and
knowledge application are critical parts of the engagement process, but so
too are knowledge dissemination and preservation. The Transformations in
Higher Education: Scholarship of Engagement series was designed to meet one
aspect of the dissemination/preservation dyad.
This series is sponsored by the National Collaborative for the Study of
University Engagement (NCSUE) and is published in partnership with the
Michigan State University Press. An external board of editors supports the
NCSUE editorial staff in order to insure that all volumes in the series are
peer reviewed throughout the publication process. Manuscripts embracing
campus-c ommunity partnerships are invited from authors regardless of dis-
cipline, geographic place, or type of transformational change accomplished.
Similarly, the series embraces all methodological approaches from rigor-
ous randomized trials to narrative and ethnographic studies. Analyses may
span the qualitative to quantitative continuum, with particular emphasis on
mixed- model approaches. However, all manuscripts must attend to detailing
critical aspects of partnership development, community involvement, and
evidence of program changes or impacts. Monographs and books provide
ample space for authors to address all facets of engaged scholarship thereby
building a compendium of praxis that will facilitate replication and general-
ization, two of the cornerstones of evidence- based programs, practices, and
policies. We invite you to submit your work for publication review and to
fully participate in our effort to assist higher education to renew its covenant
with society through engaged scholarship.
Hiram E. Fitzgerald
Burton Bargerstock
Laurie Van Egeren
For Christina,
Again and Always

contents
Foreword: On the Bus, by Julie Ellison xi
Introduction xix
Believing in Difference:
The Ethics of Civic Literacy (1993) 1
Moral Literacy (1994) 17
Reading, Writing, and Reflection (1998) 33
The Changing Seasons of Liberal
Learning (1998) 49
Academic Professionalism and the Betrayal
of the Land- Grant Tradition (1999) 69
Bus Rides and Forks in the Road:
The Making of a Public Scholar (2002) 83
Education for Democracy:
A Conversation in Two Keys (2004) 99
Is Civic Discourse Still Alive? (2007) 115