AAC&U Issues Call for Proposals for New American Commitments Project

With support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, AAC&U is accepting applications to a new American Commitments project, "Boundaries and Borderlands: The Search for Recognition and Community in America." Supported with grants from the Ford Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities, American Commitments has thus far involved more than 150 institutions and scores of faculty. The Hewlett Foundation is supporting the current project as part of its ongoing initiative, "Pluralism and Unity."

The centerpiece of the current project is a 10-day faculty and curriculum development institute to be held at Williams College, July 13–23, 2000. Participants will have an opportunity to engage in sustained study of the latest scholarship on diversity, examine curricular models being developed at institutions across the country, learn the latest research on the impact of diversity on student learning, and develop skills in fostering intergroup dialogue and learning.

The institute will also provide workshops on teaching techniques to enhance a climate of engagement, collaborative programming across academic and student affairs, and programs that engage students directly in the wider community. It will also include colloquia with nationally known speakers, an American Writers Series, a film series, and cultural events. The centerpiece of the institute will be a series of eight, three-hour seminars that examine such topics as:

• Education: The Making of Citizens
• The U.S. Democratic Experiment: Forging a Nation for Whom?
• Difference and Democracy: Theoretical Frameworks
• Race and Racialization: The Color of Democracy
• Women, Democracy, and Citizenship
• Immigration: Patterns, Politics, Experience
• Religious Diversity and Freedom in a Liberal Democracy
• The Limits and Promise of Community in a Multicultural America

"Respecting differences and valuing inclusion is at the heart of this initiative," says Hewlett Program Officer Raymond Bachetti. "AAC&U has taken the lead in making these twin goals national priorities for faculty capacity building and institutional renewal. Hewlett is proud to join their efforts with ours as we work to build campus leaders."

"Boundaries and Borderlands" will involve 200 faculty and staff from 40 colleges and universities. Applications are due December 1, 1999. Call for Proposals can be obtained from the AAC&U website (www.aacu-edu.org/Publications/download.html) or by calling Danny Teraguchi at 202/387-3760, ext 429.