Essay Instructions: Request Writer’s Username: Writergrrl101..
I have been a volunteer for Big Brother for the past several years and would like for you to concentrate the Civic Project on this. Big Brother helps inner city kids where I live in San Francisco who are in need of a loving hand. The assignment below spells out how to develop in detail.
Civic Project Report
Reading Assignment:
KSSR:
Aristotle: from Nichomachean Ethics 348 [Note: The relevant idea here is Aristotle's statement that happiness comes from "virtuous activity"]
Michael Walzer: “The Idea of Civil Society” 144
Toqueville: “Associations in Civic Life” 258
Robert Putnam: “Bowling Alone” 428
John W. Kingdon: from “America the Unusual” 584
Robert Reich: from “An American Morality Tale” 588
Derek C. Bok: “Easing Political Cynicism with Civic Involvement” 598
Gertrude Himmelfarb: “Second Thoughts on a Civil Society” 614
Signature Series Course Objectives:
1. Explain how the ideas of rule of law and popular consent developed in the West by the ancient Greeks, early Romans, and medieval Europeans, and crystallized by the philosopher John Locke, provided the foundation for America's ideas of equality before the law, political freedom, and government by consent.
2. Explain the social, political, and moral contributions of America's Judeo-Christian inheritance and demonstrate tradition's continued relevance in dealing with contemporary challenges.
3. Explain how the Western traditions of common sense, scientific testing and evaluation, and rational debate and analysis address contemporary challenges such as moral and cultural relativism.
4. Determine the history, meanings, intents, and purposes of America's Founding Documents and evaluate these in light of contemporary alternative interpretations.
5. Explain what a free-market, capitalistic economic system is and evaluate it against Platonic, Marxist, socialist, social welfare, and conservationist alternatives.
6. On the basis of the course readings and their own experience, evaluate the claims of Aristotle and other theorists of the West that active participation is essential for a meaningful civic life.
7. Demonstrate responsible citizenship by acting consistently in a way that contributes to the good of society.
Civic Project Directions:
About the Civic Project:
You are asked to undertake a civic project and to write an eight-entry report about your efforts. Any type of volunteer work is acceptable for this project. Examples of places to volunteer would be homeless shelters, nursing homes, hospitals, Habitat for Humanity, the Boy and Girl Scouts, churches, mosques, temples, and so on. In some cases, you might also be able to use your paid work—but you need to see the work as being of some service to the larger community. Examples of work that would definitely qualify: military service, police work, fire department work, all areas of medicine, and work for non-profit agencies or corporations. I'm certain many other types of work would qualify as well. If you have a question about whether your work is appropriate for this assignment, please contact the instructor. This civic project can be a continuation of volunteering you've done in the past, but all of the volunteering or paid work that you write about in your journal must have been done during the current term.
The Eight Entries:
Entry 1: Write a 250-word (minimum) entry on why you chose your project. Discuss the life or work experiences that may have influenced your selection, including whether these experiences were positive or negative. Consider how issues of community, government or individual responsibility, leadership, productivity, problem-solving, work ethic, and/or ambition might have affected your project selection. Explain why your project is important to you. Label this entry "Selection of the Civic Project.”
Entry 2: Review the course objectives listed above to find at least one specific objective in addition to Objective 6 to which you can relate your civic project. Note: Do not choose Objective 7. Write a journal entry of 250 words explaining how your project relates to these two course objectives (Week 6 and one other; refer to them by number). Be sure to explain why you feel this particular objective is important. Label this entry “Civic Project Objective.” Note: The purpose of this entry is not to tell what you think the objective of your Civic Project was; rather, it is, as stated above, to relate your project to the course objectives.
Entries 3-7: You will describe your experiences on the project each week for five weeks, and you will also relate your project experiences to the readings listed above, as well as any other course readings you think appropriate. A minimum of 300 words must be written each week. If you cannot do the project for one of the five weeks and wish to double up on one of the other weeks (writing 600 words minimum), that is fine. These entries should simply be labeled with the appropriate entry number.
Entry 8: A concluding entry of 300 words, labeled ”Conclusions,” will summarize your project, its relation to the course themes and readings, and your feelings about your experience.
Important Note: Comment briefly on ideas from all of this week's readings in your Civic Project Report—PARTICULARLY IN ENTRIES 3-7. I also encourage you to reference relevant ideas from other course readings.