Faculty Flier: Soul of a Citizen

Here’s an HTML version of an online flier to pass on to fellow teachers who might be interested in Paul Loeb's Soul of a Citizen and The Impossible Will Take a Little While. It includes information on the books, on free exam copies, and links to classroom study questions and information on Paul's lectures

SUBJECT:  HELPING YOUR STUDENTS GET INVOLVED


In a time when too many students still feel they can do nothing to change the world, or address the huge challenges we face, I thought you’d be interested in two books that inspire students to get involved. Paul Rogat Loeb’s Soul of a Citizen came out originally in 1999, and has been used on hundreds of campuses to get students engaged in their communities. Soul now has over 100,000 copies in print, and a completely updated second edition will be released in early 2010.

American Association of Colleges and Universities president Carol Geary Schneider wrote of the new edition,  “Soul of a Citizen has been a powerful resource to get thousands of students involved in their communities, giving them the opportunity to apply their learning in meaningful ways.  This updated edition is both timely and exceptionally useful to campuses that want to reclaim higher education’s central role in educating responsible, democratic citizens.”
 
And Thomas Ehrlich, senior scholar, Carnegie Foundation for Education, former Dean Stanford Law School and former president of Indiana University, commented “Soul of a Citizen has inspired countless students, faculty, and other readers since its publication a decade ago.  Amazing as that book was, this new version is even wiser, deeper, and more inspiring.  Loeb has given even more soul to his wonderful work.”

If you teach a relevant course or supervise a relevant program, you can get an advance electronic exam copy and sign up for an copy of Soul when it’s off the press by sending your name, school, address, and the name of the relevant course or program to forpaulloeb@gmail.com

The Impossible Will Take a Little While:  A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear, is also teaching wonderfully in the classroom. Named the #3 political book of 2004 by the History Channel  and the American Book Association, it creates a conversation among some of the most visionary and eloquent voices of our times: Nelson Mandela, Maya Angelou, Jonathan Kozol, Václav Havel, and Marian Wright Edelman, Howard
Zinn, Alice Walker, Parker Palmer, Diane Ackerman, and Cornel West, Terry
Tempest Williams, Tony Kushner, Jim Hightower, and Desmond Tutu.

With this book, editor Paul Rogat Loeb, whom the late Susan Sontag called "a
national treasure" for his work on courage and conscience, explores what
it's like to go up against Goliath, whether South African apartheid, the
iron fist of Eastern European dictatorship, or Mississippi segregation.
These stories don't sugarcoat the obstacles. But they inspire hope by
showing what keeps people keeping on--even when the odds seem overwhelming.
They replenish the wellsprings of commitment.

If you want to encourage your students to speak out in a world where they’re
told their voices don't count, think of this book as a gift--a challenge to
act on their beliefs, and sustenance to revisit when their spirits begin to
flag.

Find out more by visiting paulloeb.org. You'll find reviews of Soul of a Citizen and The Impossible Loeb’s national speaking schedule, and audio and video links. You’ll also find resources for using both books in the classroom, including extensive sample study questions and free academic exam copies. You can find information on teaching Soul at www.soulofacitizen.org/classrom.htm and The Impossible www.classroom.theimpossible.org And on Paul's lectures at www.paulloeb.org/lectures.htm

Bill Moyers wrote to Loeb, "You are part of what's good about this world and
I admire your work very much. This book can even make one hopeful about the
future despite so many signs to the contrary." Habitat for Humanity founder
Millard Fuller said, "Paul Loeb brings hope for a better world in a time
when we so urgently need it." The Atlanta Journal-Constitution called The
Impossible “A stirring collection of essays aimed at people who still want
to believe that ordinary people can change the world."


FACULTY COMMENTS ON SOUL OF A CITIZEN

“Since 2007, we’ve assigned Soul of a Citizen as the core text for our Foundations of Civic Engagement course, enrolling 700 students per year. We then assign The Impossible Will Take a Little While to 250 students in our core senior seminars.  Our students love these books and tell me they are among the only ones they won’t sell back.  You are a household name on our campus and your spring 2009 visit was wonderful. The new version of Soul is even more powerful than the original.”—Maria Roca, Dept. of Communication, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers FL
 
“Soul of a Citizen was a valuable part of our 2009 program for several hundred first-year students. Most also participated in service projects, and the book gave them a hopeful vision of what they could accomplish. Soul is inspiring for any student eager to play a more active role in shaping their campus, their community, and their world. The new edition is even stronger.”—Kevin Waltman, Co-coordinator, Freshman Learning Communities, University of Alabama.

“We assigned Soul of a Citizen to all 2,000 of our freshmen, together with
service-learning projects in the Philadelphia public schools. The book helps
get students talking, asking questions, and thinking critically. We're
looking forward to using it again.”—Jackie McCurdy, Coordinator, University
101, Drexel Univ., Philadelphia, PA

“I used Soul of a Citizen in my Spring 2006 general education course,
Citizenship and Civic Engagement.  Students said they found it inspiring and
hopeful.  I wish the news put stories on every night that would inspire more
people to be involved” –Bonnie Robinson, Department of Social Work, Chatham
College, Pittsburgh, PA

"I have used Soul of a Citizen for the last two years with students taking
our new required course on citizenship and social change. They’ve really
been enthusiastic about the book. Loeb’s stories of citizen engagement,
coupled with his insightful commentary, help them get beyond a personal,
individualistic searching for meaning and happiness. It’s really inspired
students who’ve done service with groups like Habitat for Humanity and
Sierra club, and one who even did her Mission trip (she's Mormon) in the
Ukraine last year.  Soul of a Citizen challenges students to see that they
can find meaningful living by working for the common good and living a life
of community."—Melinda Dukes, Professor of Psychology, Tusculum College,
Greenville, TN

"Too often, academic study leads students to doubt that their ideas and
actions matter. Soul of a Citizen taught my students that ordinary people
can and do change the world. They said it was the first book in their four
years at school that gave them hope."— Jane Rinehart, Sociology & Women’s
Studies, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA

"I teach Soul of a Citizen in a freshman composition class: Writing and
Research, a service-learning course for students admitted through our
Academic Opportunity program for students not regularly admissible. Loeb’s
book works as a great rhetorical model, and inspires my students in what is,
for many, their first step into the social arena. As they conduct primary
and secondary research into the problems of homelessness, illiteracy, and
hunger, Loeb’s book reminds them that solutions to such huge systemic
problems start with small actions by people like themselves. "—Kathleen
Dale, Senior Lecturer, Univ of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

"We’re assigning Soul of a Citizen to all our entering freshmen. Though a
conservative group with little experience of social activism, they’ve
responded very favorably. For the first time, they’ve begun to critically
assess their responsibilities not just to friends and family or to
themselves, but to the global community."— Sara Weinberger, Social Work,
Western New England College, Springfield, MA

"I’ve been teaching Soul of a Citizen with great results in  a general
education course geared to first year students. Economists are rediscovering
society and the importance of social norms. Loeb’s book provides students
with a tangible sense of how they can participate in the construction of
society, along with inspiring examples and models to guide them."—Professor
Ken Jameson, Dept of Economics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT

"I've gotten wonderful responses using Soul of a Citizen in my introductory
social work practice classes. Students love it. It's convinced them that
change really is possible and that they as individuals can make a
difference. This is even more remarkable since most came in interested
primarily in direct practice--services to individuals, families, and small
groups. Loeb's stories have a real impact."--Jean Kantambu Latting, Social
Work Grad school, University of Houston

"I’m using this well-written, engaging investigation of ordinary citizens
becoming involved in their communities and working for social change in a
second semester freshman composition course.  [It’s encouraged] reflection
and connections as students think about their roles as citizens and writers
within different communities. As one of my students said, "Sometimes I feel
very overwhelmed by the number and magnitude of issues I'm moved by, but
Loeb has encouraged me to just start and take it one step at a time."—Glenn
Hutchinson, Dept of English, University of North Carolina, Charlotte [From
review in Service-Learning journal, Reflections]

"Provides a variety of excellent lenses through which community college
students can view their service, work, and lives. Loeb’s challenges students
to see their own possibilities for involvement and to think of themselves as
citizens of conviction."—Rosemary Arca, English composition, Foothill
Community College, Los Altos, CA

"Soul of a Citizen was easily the most popular book of the semester.
Students today want to know about more than just governmental institutions,
policy analysis and political theory. They want to know what it all means to
them as citizens. Paul Loeb does this in an insightful and inspiring
way."—Stephen Zunes, Dept of Politics, University of San Francisco

 "I assigned Soul of a Citizen to my class on race and ethnic identity. When
faced with perplexing social issues, students, like many of us, often
express a ‘damned if you do and damned if you don’t’ attitude, which leads
to cynicism and feelings of powerlessness. Loeb uses stories of ordinary
citizens such as Rosa Parks to show that one doesn’t have to be a ‘great’
man or woman to have a social impact. He also clearly demonstrates that no
one we call ‘great’ ever works in a vacuum, and that sometimes great results
are achieved by someone who just takes action. Action connects us to our
community and to those in it who hope for a better society, inspiring even
greater action from many others. Soul Of A Citizen is an inspirational
book." –Larry Zimmerman,   American Indian Studies & Anthropology,
University of Iowa [From Zimmerman’s Phi Beta Kappa Key review]

"Loeb’s book is great - thoughtful, interesting, easy to read, not preachy.
I used it in my Civic Journalism course to start the discussion going about
community participation and the role of story telling (and news reporting)
in helping to make that happen. My mostly middle-class students seemed a
little embarrassed at first to talk about community involvement - they saw
it as something that "looks good on a resume" but was distant from their
everyday experience. The book helps answer their concerns about personal
responsibility and acknowledges both the difficulty and the joy of making
that start for the first time. The discussion questions on his website were
also very helpful in getting my students to talk and reflect."—Eleanor
Novek, Dept of Communication, Monmouth University, Monmouth, NJ

"I’ve made Soul of a Citizen the core of my community service-based seminar:
Lives, Livelihood, and Community. Loeb's works serves as an inspiration for
students, helping them to connect individual and community, soul and mind,
action and results.  It energizes their souls and stimulates their thinking
towards ensuring tomorrow's communities will be better than those of
today."—Robert Hogner, Honors College Director of Community Service
Learning, Florida International University, Miami, FL


FACULTY COMMENTS ON THE IMPOSSIBLE

“One of my students captured it best: ‘The Impossible turns social heroes
into real people.’ The book’s power is in letting us hear the voices of
those who have struggled for change, how hard it was for them, and what kept
them going. For young people working to make a difference, this kind of
first-person inspiration is invaluable.”—Jackie Schmidt Posner, director of
Public Service Education, Haas Center, Stanford University

“My first-year students love the readings. We’ve had great discussions, and
their written responses are powerful. They said the book challenged them
from different perspectives and helped them figure out what they believe and
feel most passionately about.”—Joan Kopperud, English, Concordia College,
Moorhead, MN

“I’ve used The Impossible twice with great success for one of our school’s
required service-learning courses. The diversity of the readings, both in
content and style, worked very well. They helped create great dialogue about
the recent election (our first class was in October) and the tsunami
disaster. Both courses included service-learning and social-activism
components. There really couldn’t have been a better text. The online
questions were a great help too.”—Aubrey Lee, Sociology, Tusculum College,
Greenville, TN

“I’ve used The Impossible in three service-learning classes for student
athletes at the University of Central Florida. The readings stimulate
interest, provoke informed and engaged discussion, and provide a meaningful
context within which the student athletes understand themselves, how they
are viewed by others, and how they can use the power and appeal of sport to
effect meaningful social change. We’ also used the book with great responses
in programs with minor league players of the Boston Red Sox and New York
Mets.”—Richard Astro, university professor,  Drexel University, Chief
Academic Officer, National Consortium for Academics and Sports

“My first-year seminar students thoroughly enjoyed the pieces they read from
The Impossible Will Take a Little While. My colleague and I were extremely
pleased with the success of the theme, “The Literature of Hope,” and are
interested in repeating it and using this anthology again.”—Carmen Werder,
First-Year Programs, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA

“I use The Impossible Will Take a Little While to help students understand
that politics is made up of living, breathing people, not just a bunch of
abstractions. The book is truly wonderful for that. I use it in an
introductory U.S. and California government class. I cover the nuts and
bolts of U.S. governmental institutions and then complement that information
with readings from the book. I have students read the chapters, and then
they write briefly about them and break up into pairs to discuss what they
wrote with a partner. That way even the shyest students in a class of 56 get
to talk. The students really seem to ‘get’ the readings—the idea that
activists don’t have to be saints comes through very effectively. It really
is a great book.”—Brian Lawson, Social Sciences, Santa Monica Community
College and Cal State, Dominguez Hills

“My students found these stories of ordinary people striving to maintain
hope inspiring and motivating. Even conservative students responded well.
The selections were great for discussion and even better for
 journaling.”—Brian Stiltner, Religious Studies, Sacred Heart University,
Fairfield, CT

“We used The Impossible Will Take a Little While in a leadership book group
that brought together honors program students, faculty, and staff. They each
had a favorite essay that really spoke to them in a unique way. For one it
was ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail.’ Reading that essay while other Martin
Luther King events were going on really strengthened the message. Another
had visited Robben Island two summers before—the essay by Nelson Mandela
made a strong personal impact. For another, Havel’s essay was the most
meaningful. Being in a group where we could share experiences and thoughts
about the readings helped significantly. It’s a great collection of powerful
essays.” —Kate Bruce, Psychology, Honors Program director, University of
North Carolina, Wilmington

“I assigned The Impossible in my cultural anthropology class. The students
loved it. They’re up against a lot in their lives. Many are immigrants. Most
are struggling to pay for school. Some are coming back from Iraq and
Afghanistan, and lots have friends and relatives serving. It’s very easy for
them to lose hope about the culture and about their lives. The book gave
them hope, a chance to feel their actions could matter. Each student had a
different favorite essay, but they all felt inspired by it.” —Peter Knutson,
Anthropology, Seattle Central Community College, Seattle, WA

“I am using The Impossible in an online course with adult students. Each
student presents a paper on part of the book and the rest of the class
discusses their ideas on the online discussion board. So far the reactions
have been terrific. As one student said, ‘The idea that change can begin
with one person, as a seed, is a simple yet powerful analogy. We must begin
to believe that this is true and act as change-agents for those causes that
we believe in.’”—Karen Mitchell, Political Science, Ottawa University,
Overland Park, Kansas

“I loved The Impossible, and my students did too! In a new course on
Compassionate Communication, I scheduled the book near the end of the
semester but told students the first week that they could use it anytime
they needed an ‘emotional pick-me-up,’ which they did. I really like Soul of
a Citizen and am currently using it in another course, but I like The
Impossible even better. Loeb chose readings from a wide array of sources,
but what impresses me most are his section introductions, which are
incredible: He says just enough to make us interested, but not too much; we
still need to read the original pieces. I look forward to using the book
again when I teach my Compassionate Communication course in the fall. Thanks
to Loeb for collecting such an incredible array of wonderful readings by
inspirational writers—and for integrating the pieces so masterfully. I have
recommended the book to scores of people and continue to reread sections at
least once a week.” —Lois J. Einhorn, Communication, State University of New
York, Binghamton

“I’m using the book in a graduate public affairs course on social justice
and social activism. Since the students have already done a year or more of
post-graduate volunteer work—Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, Public Allies, Jesuit
Volunteer Corps—they have a heightened awareness of injustice. As we examine
major movements of social action from the peace movement to the civil rights
movement, the readings in The Impossible provide a sense of promise and
hope. My students have been inspired by the readings, which are helping them
to believe they can be an active part of making the impossible
 happen.”—Susan Mountin, Theology, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI

“Loeb’s book was a great choice for our Community Service Action seminar.
Students said his writing and choice of readings gave them hope and
empowerment. Our media offer fatuous content and the disease of
hopelessness. This timeless collection is an antidote.”—Tom Hastings, Peace
and Nonviolence Studies, Portland State University, OR

“I used The Impossible While in two sections of a first-year seminar called
‘Individual & Community,” with great results. The book fills my classroom
with courageous voices of civic engagement!"--Seamus Pender, Core
Curriculum, Franklin Pierce College, Rindge NH

“I’m using the book in a Senior Capstone seminar in Human Services. My
students will be going out to work with people living in poverty, abused and
neglected children, people suffering from addictions, and others facing
enormous obstacles in their lives. We’ve had some amazing and deeply
meaningful discussions over the readings. For example, one student presented
a beautiful analysis of the Maya Angelou poem, making it come to life with
her descriptions of life as an African American woman, along with examples
from her work with women who have experienced domestic violence. Students do
also need to learn some practical things, like how to write résumés, prepare
for job interviews, find graduate school opportunities, and the like. But
this amazingly beautiful group of essays has touched my students’ lives in a
meaningful way. I believe these stories of hope will nurture them on the
challenging career path they have chosen.”—Deborah Altus, Human Services,
Washburn University, Topeka, KS

"We were so impressed with The Impossible Will Take a Little While that we
gave the book to several hundred entering graduate students in teaching and
counseling.  We felt it would challenge them to think creatively and
courageously about how their professional lives can contribute to the
struggle for social justice."—Tod Sloan, Graduate School of Education and
Counseling, Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR.

“My students found inspiration and hope in the stories told in The
Impossible Will Take a Little While.”—Gordon Fellman, Department of
Sociology, Brandeis University, Waltham MA

A WONDERFULLY CREATIVE WAY TO USE THE BOOKS

And finally, here’s an example of an amazing cross-campus adoption of The Impossible Will Take a Little While at Rochester Community & Technical College, in Rochester, Minnesota. I’ve never seen a school use one of my books in as many different ways. So I thought their experience might be useful for other colleges, particularly since many people assume public community and technical colleges will be less civically engaged than more elite schools with more privileged students. The community college’s students is a pretty normal eclectic mix of rural farm kids, children of lower-level Mayo Clinic employees (those of the doctors mostly go to four-year schools), some older workers returning for retraining, and a large contingent of Cambodian and Somalian immigrants.

The college assigned The Impossible as a common reading across the curriculum. It was assigned, in whole or part, in freshman composition, sociology, communications, political science, leadership, English, philosophy, psychology, public speaking, interpersonal and intercultural communications, oral interpretation, developmental reading and writing, general humanities classes, and even some art and music courses. Nursing and chemistry sponsored related events. The college’s music and digital arts students created an installation opposite the college bookstore where people could touch various tiles and hear students reading favorite quotes from the book. The quotes were backed with music that the students had composed. The college’s speech students did dramatic interpretative readings of the poems in public performances. Art and design students crafted invitations, programs and posters for my lecture at the school (which you can view here), and created art shows taking off from various essays.  The school's health classes used the Terry Tempest Williams essay for Breast Cancer Awareness week and the Diane Ackerman piece for discussions of youth suicide prevention.  Faculty and staff read and discussed The Impossible in a reading group and staff development workshops.  

One young woman did a whole slide show taking off from Jack DuVall and Peter Ackerman’s essay about the mothers of the disappeared in Argentina and the resisters who succeeded in getting the Nazis to free 1700 imprisoned Jews from the Berlin police station. She asked people to write responses on Post-it notes while they watched, then assembled these responses into a poem that she read to the class. Other students linked their classroom work with outside community service projects at schools, nursing homes, a Boys and Girls Club, and other local nonprofit groups.  Speech and education majors teamed up to create learning units to help teach the book’s themes of hope in local schools.  Dance students taught classes at the Boys and Girls club and talked about the value of small acts of involvement.  Students also helped register voters in a neck-and-neck Congressional race nearby, then volunteered to get out the vote and drive voters to the polls. 

A group of faculty and students also made the book’s themes the centerpiece of a service learning trip to Cambodia. Students gathered donations such as uniforms, educational, medical, and dental supplies, and financial contributions.  They worked side by side with Youth Service Cambodia, the first indigenous Non Governmental Organization of its kind in Cambodia. Together the students dug wells, built toilets, planted gardens, worked with schools and orphanages, and distributed food and supplies to the poorest of the poor.  The trip’s facilitators taught lessons around the book’s themes to both the U.S. and Cambodian students.

The college created a special website for the book, which students and faculty used to develop and share new learning materials. The site included annotated study questions (beyond those I’d already prepared), profiles and annotated bibliographies of the book’s authors, and links to student multimedia presentations. The student who created the Post-It poems worked with fellow students in the school’s honors program to edit and publish a book of student essays responding to my themes. Students held displays in the school’s atrium tying in specific essays to issues like homelessness, substance and physical abuse, poverty, depression, and suicide. They publicized  local resources for volunteerism and civic involvement, and faculty and staff brought in representatives of local nonprofits and citizen advocacy groups throughout the year. Students I met in a recent visit said the book and its related activities had transformed their lives and was completely inspiring. I can’t imagine a more fertile use of The Impossible Will Take a Little While as a window to a larger engaged world.

For more information on the project, visit the website or contact Rochester Community & Technical College Common Book coordinator, speech professor Lori Halverson Wente.  And please forward this description to anyone who might find it of interest.