Community Engagement in Christian Higher Education

Originally published as a special issue of Christian Higher Education, this volume showcases diverse forms of community engagement work carried out by faith-based colleges and universities throughout the US. Acknowledging the rise of community engagement as a contemporary expression of a longstanding civic impulse, Community Engagement in Christian Higher Education explores how religious mission and identity animate institutional practice across various forms of Catholic and Protestant Higher Education. Offering perspectives from faculty members, administrators, and community partners at nine different US institutions, chapters highlight effective initiatives that have been actively implemented in rural, urban, and suburban contexts to meet local needs and serve the public good. With a focus on practical community work, the text demonstrates the very concrete ways in which Christian values can inform and foster community engagement. This volume will be of interest to scholar-practitioners, researchers, and academics in the fields of higher education, sociology of education, religious education, and practical theology. More broadly, the text offers important insights for faith leaders and the faculty of faith-based institutions exploring issues of community, identity, and shared purpose.

P. Jesse Rine is Associate Professor of Higher Education and Director of the Master of Science Program in Higher Education Administration in the School of Education, Duquesne University, USA. Sandra Quiñones is Associate Professor of Literacy Education and Director of the Professional Doctorate Program in Educational Technology in the School of Education, Duquesne University, USA.

Introduction Doing Justice, Loving Kindness, Walking Humbly: Christian Approaches to Community Engagement P. Jesse Rine and Sandra Quiñones 1. Mission Animation: Christian Higher Education, the Common Good, and Community Engagement Jessica Mann 2. Re-membering the Mission: Institutional Impacts of an Interdisciplinary Community Outreach Project David R. Tillman and Brian K. Foreman 3. Reconciling Structural and Personal Expressions of Justice in Jesuit Education Bryan W. Sokol, Leah Sweetman, Bobby Wassel, Christopher Franco, and Tim Huffman 4. Pursuing Social Justice through Place-Based Community Engagement: Cultivating Applied Creativity, Transdisciplinarity, and Reciprocity in Catholic Higher Education Brian LaDuca, Charlie Carroll, Adrienne Ausdenmoore, and Justin Keen 5. Community Engagement for Student Faith Development: Service-Learning in the Pentecostal Tradition Carolyn Dirksen 6. Becoming People for and with Others: Advancing Social Justice through Interdisciplinary Study and Service in the Jesuit Tradition Andrew F. Miller, Ana M. Martínez Alemán, and Meghan T. Sweeney 7. Faith in Action and Community Engagement: Realizing Mission through Immersion Experiences Christopher D. Tirres and Melanie C. Schikore 8. What Does it Mean to be an Engaged Institutional Neighbor?: A Self-Study of an Undergraduate Program in Ministry and Community Engagement Cassie J. E. H. Trentaz 9. Equipping Students for a "Specific Uprising" Toward Justice: Lessons Learned from a University Prison Initiative Todd Cioffi, Andrew F. Haggerty, and Jeffrey P. Bouman Conclusion Community Engagement in Christian Higher Education: Purposes and Possibilities P. Jesse Rine and Sandra Quiñones