Department Events, Spring 2011

Doug McAdam
Professor of Sociology
Director, Urban Studies Program
Stanford University

"The Civic Impact of Youth Activism:
The Curious Contrast between Freedom Summer and Teach for America"
Monday, March 21, 2011
4:15 p.m., Hahn 101

The contemporary Teach for America and the 1964 "Freedom Summer" program during the Civil Right Movement are two contrasting cases of young adult activism and later civic engagement. Using data on both Teach for America and Freedom Summer volunteers, the effects of the programs on their participants can be compared. The contrast illuminates how civil society, volunteerism, American democracy, and social movements operate in today's society.