Civic Reflection News Update — March 2010

UPCOMING EVENTS

Talk Deeply, Be Happy! Join Us in April

According to this article posted yesterday by the New York Times, a recent study by a University of Arizona psychologist suggests that people who engage in a high proportion of meaningful conversations tend to be happier than those who mainly engage in small talk. Dr. Matthias Mehl, author of the study, proposed that "substantive conversation seemed to hold the key to happiness for two main reasons: both because human beings are driven to find and create meaning in our lives, and because we are social animals who want and need to connect with other people." And what is civic reflection but the art of substantive, meaningful conversation?

To learn how to lead these conversations and spread the wealth of happiness, sign up for our next facilitation training workshop, to be held at Columbia College Chicago from noon on Thursday, April 29th through 4:00 p.m. on Friday, April 30th, 2010. Join us for two days of presentations, discussions, networking opportunities and hands-on practice in facilitating civic reflection discussions. The $250 registration fee includes workshop materials and meals. The registration deadline has been extended from March 26 to Friday, April 2.

• Click here for an informational flyer and registration form.
• Continuing professional development credits (CPDU's) from the Illinois State Board of Education are available to Illinois teachers who participate in our trainings. Contact us for more information.

Fact and Faith Discussion at Columbia College

Join us at Columbia College Chicago on Wednesday, April 14 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. for a Critical Encounters book salon focusing on faith, service and difference. Adam Davis and other facilitators from a range of community organizations will lead the discussion, using selections from Hearing the Call across Traditions: Readings on Faith and Service. The program is co-sponsored by the Project on Civic Reflection, the Interfaith Youth Core, the Illinois Humanities Council, the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions, and Critical Encounters: Fact & Faith.

National Service-Learning Conference Workshop

PCR staff members Kelli Covey and Adam Davis will lead a workshop, "Talking Across Differences in a Diverse World," at the 21st Annual National Service-Learning Conference, which will be held in San Jose March 24-27. Kelli and Adam also will staff a booth at the conference, and they look forward to talking one-on-one with participants about civic reflection and the PCR. Dean McGovern, Executive Director of Montana Campus Compact, will join the PCR workshop to talk about his experience of civic reflection training and how the practice can help similar organizations.

NEW PUBLICATION

Breaking News! Talking Giving: Readings for Civic Reflection has just been published by the Project on Civic Reflection. This booklet contains six popular readings to spur conversation on the complexities and challenges of giving. Readings are designed to tie into core operational activities—like strategic planning or guideline revision—and are accompanied by reflection exercises and discussion questions. Ordering information for Talking Giving and our other publications is available on the new Publications page of our website.

SPOTLIGHT

Reflective Reading Program at Chicago's Stroger Hospital

Since the summer of 2007, the Palliative Care Team at John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County in Chicago has been holding monthly "Reflective Reading" sessions as part of its regular schedule of team meetings. An interdisciplinary specialty that serves patients with serious or life-threatening illness, palliative care aims to relieve suffering and improve patients' quality of life throughout the continuum of care. Dr. Jennifer Smith and Dr. Catherine Deamant introduced the group to civic reflection after attending Project on Civic Reflection facilitation trainings. Team members take turns selecting the readings and facilitating the discussions. Facilitators have chosen readings by a diverse set of authors, including Anna Akhmatova, Gwendolyn Brooks, Constantine Cavafy and John Updike.



The palliative care program had received grant funding support from the Prince Charitable Trusts to identify strategies for improving hospital personnel morale and selected the process of "reflective reading" as one of the strategies. At the request of Stroger staff, the Project on Civic Reflection conducted an evaluation of the program's impact in the summer

of 2009. Participants in the Stroger program were interviewed, using a standard survey designed to measure job satisfaction. The findings suggested that the Reflective Reading series has enhanced the job satisfaction of members of the Palliative Care Service and increased their ability to work both with one another and with the patients they serve.

Several participants spoke in the interviews of feeling reaffirmed and rejuvenated in their work. As one participant put it, "Service is in the nature of being a physician—it is core to the work. This process reminds me why I went into medicine in the first place. It draws on the art and humanistic aspect that often gets lost." Reflective reading was also identified as an activity that addresses professionalism, a core competency in medical education, for physicians in training. As part of this project, a toolkit was developed to help other palliative care, hospice or multidisciplinary teams to implement this activity in other health care settings.

REFLECTION AND ACTION IN MAINE

At the PCR we like to say that reflection in action makes change. Read on for two recent examples of how reflection and action can inspire and nourish one another:

AmeriCorps VISTA Project in Lewiston

A civic reflection series for AmeriCorps VISTAs run by Maine Campus Compact, with support from the Maine Humanities Council, has inspired the participants to work together on a common project to benefit their community. The VISTAs, who work for various programs and agencies in Lewiston, Maine, are collaborating on a summer program to promote cultural literacy, inspiring interaction among all youth in Lewiston, across diverse cultures. Students will come from backgrounds reflecting the community's French Canadian to recent Somali Bantu heritage.

The educational obstacles faced by these youth arose during the VISTAs' discussions, and they decided to work on a solution together. The summer camp will be based on experiential learning, creating opportunities to bond through shared educational experiences. The goal is to instill a sense of community through a deepened understanding of multi-cultural interactions. Tiemann expressed gratitude to the Maine Humanities Council for funding the Civic Reflection Program, which in turn made the participants' joint project possible. "It's magical," she says, "what happens when these committed AmeriCorps members get together."

• Learn more about the Somali Bantu experience in Maine here.

Innovative Course at Maine University Integrates Academic Study with Service

Teachers interested in service learning confront the challenge of linking the academic subjects that they teach with the students' service. An innovative course being offered this spring at the University of Maine at Augusta connects three academic departments with community service projects in those disciplines. The all-day, nine-credit course, taught collaboratively by professors of Art, Architecture, and Philosophy, combines lectures and class discussions with service projects for a local soup kitchen and homeless shelter run by Bread of Life Ministries in Augusta.

Associate Professor of Philosophy Gregory Fahy explains that in the architecture portion of the course, students design and build spaces for a new property acquired by Bread of Life Ministries. The new, expanded shelter will include a life-skills center, a fruit orchard and a sustainable garden, and a child's play area. Staff of the shelter will offer feedback on the students' design as they work. The art component of the course involves the students in curating, at either the soup kitchen or the shelter, art exhibits for and by residents of the shelter. Students also are working with a local gallery to put on an exhibition this October about hunger in Maine. In the philosophy segment of the course, which Fahy teaches, students discuss readings, from The Civically Engaged Reader and other sources, which offer diverse perspectives on the meaning of volunteer service. Recently Adam Davis led the class, via Skype, in a discussion of the connections between work, service and study. Fahy says that he hopes to move toward an integrated program in partnership with the University of Maine at Augusta's Office of Civic Engagement, which offers workshops and other support to professors developing service-learning classes.

• Read Prof. Gregory Fahy's syllabus for The Philosophy of Volunteer Service
• Read Prof. Eric Stark's syllabus for Building Community Through Design and Construction
• Read Prof. Peter Precourt's syllabus for Presenting Art in Public Spaces

NEWS IN BRIEF

At the 2010 Southwest Cluster AmeriCorps Conference, held in Dallas from March 2-4, Adam Davis led two sessions on commitment and reflection. The conference brought together AmeriCorps staff from Texas and several other Southwestern states, as well as representatives from the Corporation for National & Community Service. The event was based on the results of a survey of AmeriCorps programs and state commissions in the region on how best to meet the needs of these groups.

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On March 8, PCR led a clinical training workshop for Catholic Charities in Chicago. "Social Work, Reflective Practice: An Introduction to Civic Reflection" drew about 30 participants, professional counselors and social workers who represented numerous Catholic Charities programs—including foster care counseling, drug prevention, a residential facility for veterans in recovery, and a mental health services center. Adam Davis and Alissa Catiis co-facilitated the three-hour workshop.

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At the invitation of the Indiana Humanities Council, in early February PCR associate Ryan Lewis and Adam Davis led a facilitation training at the Council's offices in Indianapolis. This training, the second requested by the Indiana council, was a follow-up to the training we did in September 2009. In addition to members of the Indiana Humanities Council, participants included the director and two staff members from the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (Indiana's state service commission) and representatives of Habitat for Humanity, YMCA of Indianapolis, United Way of Porter County, Indiana Campus Compact and the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving. The purpose of this training was to get the practice of civic reflection more firmly established in service organizations statewide and to foster closer partnerships among them.

• Read a blog posting by a participant who attended the Indiana training.

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Twenty-three people from across the U.S. flew in for PCR's General Facilitation Training on January 28-29, 2010 at Columbia College Chicago. The group at this training was particularly sophisticated, as some participants facilitate professionally, and others picked up the nuances of civic reflection especially quickly. Participants discussed "A Bed for the Night" by Bertolt Brecht, "Saving the Crippled Boy" by Jan Beatty, "If All Who Have Begged Help" by Anna Akhmatova, "The Lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara, and an excerpt from "Specimen Days" by Walt Whitman. (All of these texts are available in our Resource Library.) If some of these readings look familiar, it's with good reason. In our work, we've found that these versatile and approachable texts work well with diverse groups of people. Lately, lead trainer Adam Davis has opened a few trainings with "A Bed for the Night" in order to launch discussions about how we give and what gifts might be most useful. We've found "The Lesson" to be particularly helpful for use with educators, a growing audience for civic reflection. At the January training, PCR welcomed four participants currently working in education and more with a background in the field. We've recently matched this growth by expanding our bank of education-related texts and support, so if you are interested in learning more, please contact us!

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In October 2009, PCR held a large training in Austin, TX with the Texas OneStar Foundation. Since that training, many participants have gone on to lead discussions of their own. Among these independent discussions, two stand out for their ambition: (1) Beth Hannon and Gabi Garcia planned a citywide civic reflection discussion for Austin on December 15th, and (2) Mayra Skopal from Texas A&M led a large discussion with 47 AmeriCorps members on January 9th. Contact us to learn more about the Texas discussions, or to be put in contact with seasoned beginners in order to share tips and tricks. Kudos, Texas!

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In the December issue of Civic Reflection News Update, we reported on a facilitation training led by the Project last fall for a new California Council for the Humanities (CCH) initiative with Riverside County Libraries, "Making a Difference." The initiative provides California librarians with training in civic dialogue facilitation skills and resources for offering theme-based civic dialogue around holidays and other events. The most recent issue of the CCH quarterly newsletter includes an update on the program.

• Read the article here, or check out the complete newsletter here.

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In other news from the California Council for the Humanities, in February the CCH, in partnership with Southern California Grantmakers, launched a monthly civic reflection luncheon series called The Thoughtful Philanthropist. The program, which is the first to use the Project on Civic Reflection's hot-off-the-presses publication, Talking Giving, runs through June. Felicia Kelley, Senior Programs Manager at the California Council for the Humanities, says of the first session, "Everyone participated in the discussion, which was very lively and drew out interesting perspectives about the reading (a Julia Kasdorf poem) and the issues and concerns it raised for those of us working in the field of philanthropy. I think we're off to a great start."

• Click here for The Thoughtful Philanthropist reading list.

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We reported last summer on the Guam Humanities Council's community conversations initiative on military expansion in Guam, which received a We the People grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. PCR associate Deva Woodly trained 18 facilitators for the initiative last spring. The community conversations to date have been well attended and received, and a number of larger events with poets and filmmakers are planned over the next few months.

• Read a Pacific News Center article on the Guam initiative and upcoming events.
• View a PBS special report on the military expansion in Guam.

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The Chicago Chapter of Public Allies included civic reflection in its mid-year retreat in early February. Nearly fifty Allies attended two civic reflection discussions co-facilitated by Rebecca Brown and Adam Davis. Using poems by Jan Beatty and Mary Oliver, the Allies delved into the themes of commitment as service and service as leadership.

NEW ON OUR WEBSITE

Resources for Philanthropy

Check out our revised and updated Philanthropic Leaders page, which includes many resources—from anthologies to reading lists, discussion guides and websites—for reflection on giving.

New in the Resource Library

Interested in using visual media for civic reflection? Check out this award-winning five-minute film:

"Historia de un Letrero" ("The History of a Sign"), directed by Alonso Alvarez Barreda.

• How do we respond to strangers?
• What is giving? What inspires it?
• What prevents us from being compassionate?

These recently added poems were recommended by facilitators:

"What Kind of Times Are These" by Adrienne Rich.

• What is the relationship between our principles and our actions?
• What is good leadership?
• What makes it possible for us to connect with others? What gets in the way?

"The Shopping Bag Lady" by Linda Gregg.

• Does it take guilt to make us give or serve?
• How does gratitude (or lack of gratitude) affect our feelings about giving?
• Why should I give? Who should have what I give?

Have you come across a new reading for civic reflection? Share your suggestion with us—we'd love to hear from you.

New in the Facilitators' Forum

• Campus Compact, VISTA, and community service leaders discuss Linda Gregg's "The Shopping Bag Lady" in a conversation about connection. What makes us feel connected to and responsible for strangers?

• In discussing poems by Rabindranath Tagore and Mary Oliver, student interfaith leaders ponder what it means to lead and be led.

• Hospital employees in a Literature & Medicine group use a story by Henri Barbusse, a poem by Bertolt Brecht, and a painting by George Tooker to frame a conversation on the human costs of "rationing" healthcare.

• A group of youth service volunteers explore, through texts by Brecht and Moses Maimonides, whether it is necessary for people performing service to share experiences, such as poverty, with those they serve.

Have you led a civic reflection discussion lately? Please share your experiences with us!