Not available to order

Publication date:

16 December 2008

Length of book:

226 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

ISBN-13: 9780739121214

What are the connections between service-learning and a liberal arts education? That is the central question of this volume and scholars from a variety disciplines-Chemistry, Economics, Education, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Public Policy, Religious Studies, and Sociology-answer it here. The scholars collected by Craig A. Rimmerman ground their essays in the positive assumption about the importance of service-learning in contributing to students' moral, ethical, and social development within the broader context of a liberal arts education.

The contributors engage in the critique of service and then respond to that critique within the context of their individual chapters. Readers will have a better understanding of what does and does not work in and out of the classroom and why. The practical appeal of this volume lies in the fact that other teachers and students who are interested in both developing their own service-learning courses and connecting those courses to broader issues of citizenship, democracy, and theories of justice, ethics, and morality can find advice and applications of successful service-learning endeavors within it.
This is a refreshing book that provides readers with opportunities to think about how to effectively use service-learning in their courses. As one who has used service-learning scores of times, I completed this book with a new understanding of its value to the liberal arts, new ideas for how I can deepen my own use of the pedagogy, and a renewed enthusiasm for service-learning as a method to better educate my students.