Why do colleges and churches travel to help distant others and what does transnational civic engagement actually accomplish?

Gary J. Adler, Jr is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the Pennsylvania State University. His research on culture, civic organizations, and religion has been published in numerous journals, including Social Problems, the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, and Social Science and Medicine. He is the editor of Secularism, Catholicism, and the Future of Public Life (2015) and co-editor of American Parishes: Remaking Local Catholicism (forthcoming).

1. From distance to concern; Part I. Organizational Roots and Dilemmas: 2. At the border between education and action; 3. The problems of finding truth through travel; Part II. Activities, Emotions, and Empathy: 4. What immersion travelers feel all day; 5. Why it's better to walk than talk; Part III. Patterns of Experience and Transformation: 6. Guided unsettledness: how groups safely shape travel; 7. What changes and why?; 8. The possibilities and problems of immersion travel; Methodological appendix; Bibliography; Index.