EVENTS

Public Engagement Symposia Series
The Office for Public Engagement is pleased to announce the Spring Semester Public Engagement Symposia. Each symposium explores a topic critical to understanding and advancing public engagement in higher education.
All symposia are free, but RSVP is requested. We hope you will join us for a lively discussion!

Please send RSVP to: public@umn.edu

*THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2009 9:00 am - 12 pm*
“Unpacking the Complexities of Civic Engagement (http://www.engagement.umn.edu/)�
Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, Room 180
This symposium will feature an eminent panel of national scholars who will present on a broad spectrum of opinions on the meaning and purposes of civic engagement. Following their presentation, an open Q&A session and roundtable discussions will follow.

MODERATOR: Professor Richard Battistoni, Providence College, author of Education for Democracy: Citizenship, Community & Service

PANELISTS: Dr. Harry Boyte (University of Minnesota), Prof. Connie Flanagan (Pennsylvia State University), and Prof. Joel Westheimer (University of Ottawa).

UPCOMING SYMPOSIA:

*MARCH 2009: *Meeting the Standards of Scientific Inquiry in
Community-Engaged Research

*MAY 2009: *Community Members' Perspectives on Higher Education
Community Engagement

Please visit http://www.engagement.umn.edu/calendar/index.html for further information on U of MN Public Engagement opportunities.

2009 Knopka Lectureship, Keynote: Mike Males
February 11, 2009 – 10:00 AM
The Paul and Sheila Wellstone Center/Neighborhood House
St Paul, Minnesota

Free and open to the public.
Following the lecture, please also join us for a reception honoring Gisela Konopka and recognizing her birth date of February 11th.

This year’s lecturer, Mike Males, is a senior researcher for the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco, a columnist for Youth Today and the principal investigator/content director for the online information service – YouthFacts.org. In addition to several other titles, Mr. Males is the author of The Scapegoat Generation: America’s War on Adolescents and Framing Youth: Ten Myths About the Next Generation.

Mike Males shares Gisa’s passion for promoting the needs of young people as well as her willingness to be controversial and provocative. We believe this lecture will be energizing and thought-provoking for everyone who works with or cares about young people. You can learn more about Mike Males’ work at www.youthfacts.org

More details to follow, but save the date today!

(Please pass this note along to anyone you know in the youth-serving community.)

AWARDS & GRANTS

Josie R. Johnson Human Rights & Social Justice Award
Nomination are being accepted for a colleague or student to receive the Josie R. Johnson Human Rights and Social Justice Award. The Award honors faculty, staff and students who, through their work at the University or in their community, exemplify Dr. Johnson's standard of excellence in creating respectful and inclusive living, learning, and working environments and who demonstrate unusual commitment and passion in the areas of human rights and social justice.

The award is given to two individuals each year - one current faculty or staff member and one current undergraduate or graduate student. For a full description of thenomination guidelines, procedures and contact information, please visit:http://www.academic.umn.edu/equity/awards/josie_johnson.html

World Affairs Challenge
World Savvy is pleased to announce that the University of Minnesota through the Office for Public Engagement will provide scholarships for ten teams from high-need public schools in the Twin Cities to participate in the 2009 World Affairs Challenge.

For more information, please visit: http://worldsavvy.org/docs/MN_WAC_Scholarships.pdf

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Children, Youth and Family Consortium

The Family Impact Policy Initiative (FIPI) was recently partially funded by the Otto Bremer Foundation. FIPI is a set of policy-related activities with the primary goal of providing policymakers with nonpartisan, solution-oriented research and opportunities for dialogue on current issues affecting families. FIPI includes six activities that communicate policy-relevant, evidence-based information to policymakers through print communication, training, and dialogues. FIPI also provides coordination of members of the University who do policy-education and other policy-relevant work. FIPI’s anchor event is the Family Impact Seminar, held during the legislative session, to bring research expertise to a bipartisan, bicameral dialogue about an issue selected by the legislators. Last year’s Family Impact Seminar, which was highly ranked, addressed creating an early childhood system in Minnesota. The topic for the next seminar will be special education finance.