Civic Learning and Civic Action
The Spencer Foundation announces a grants program to support research about how and why individuals and groups become committed to civic action. We call this program of work the Initiative on Civic Learning and Civic Action to highlight our keen interest in learning and action and in the relationships between them. We begin with the assumption that civic action matters for citizenship and for strong institutions and nations. It yields benefits for individuals and groups, who by their actions have their interests and those of their communities represented. But it also yields benefits for society, which stands to gain from the voices, commitments, insights, and participation of diverse communities of individuals.
What compels civic action? Through the Initiative on Civic Learning and Civic Action, Spencer intends to support research studies that examine the commitments, conditions, and contexts that stimulate and sustain civic action, as well as those that constrain or discourage it. Three sets of influences frame our perspectives for examining the connections between action and learning: influences of civic motivations and other cognitive and psychological processes; influences of learning experiences and environments; and influences of social, political, cultural, historical, and other contextual influences on individual and group action. We anticipate that investment in this initiative will extend over a substantial period of time, with other activities intended to advance this work to be announced in the near future. Read more.
Application Guidelines for the Initiative on Civic Learning and Civic Action - click here.
Initiative on Civic Learning and Civic Action (CLCA) Makes Five New Grants - click here.
For a complete list of Civic Learning and Civic Action (CLCA) research grants - click here.