Paul Loeb

Founder The Campus Election Engagement Project

  • Seattle WA

Author and lecturer on civic engagement

Contact

Biography

Paul Rogat Loeb has spent forty years researching and writing about citizen responsibility and empowerment—asking what makes some people choose lives of social commitment, while others abstain, and exploring how to find the hope to stay engaged despite all the frustrations and barriers. The Impossible Will Take a Little While: Perseverance and Hope in Troubled Times (Basic Books), was named the #3 political book of fall 2004 by the History Channel and American Book Association, won the Nautilus Award for best social change book, and was one of six books selected for the Sierra Club’s new common reading groups. The Impossible’s new edition was published May 2014. Soul of a Citizen: Living with Conviction in Challenging Times (St Martin’s Press) has over 150,000 copies in print with a wholly revised edition published in April 2010. Paul is also the author of Generation at the Crossroads: Apathy & Action on the American Campus, Nuclear Culture, and Hope in Hard Times. He’s written for the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Psychology Today, Utne Reader, Mother Jones, The Nation, Redbook, Huffington Post, the International Herald Tribune and the Christian Science Monitor, been interviewed on CNN, NPR, C-SPAN, NBC news, CBC, and the BBC, and lectured at 400 colleges throughout the country and numerous national and international conferences. He founded and runs the national nonpartisan Campus Election Engagement Project, which helped 500 colleges and universities in engage their students in the election in 2008, 750 in 2012, and is now engaging students in mid-term elections. See http://www.paulloeb.org or http://www.campuselect.org

Loeb has spoken at over 400 colleges and universities.

Industry Expertise

Education/Learning
Political Organization
Environmental Services
Non-Profit/Charitable
Public Policy
Writing and Editing

Areas of Expertise

Political Participation
Social Movements
Protest Movements
Climate Change
Citizen Activism
Community Involvement
Political Hope
Students
Youth Involvement
Democratic Participation

Accomplishments

Nautilus Award for Best Social Change Book

2010-01-01

Awarded for the revised edition of Soul of a Citizen

#3 Political Book of 2004

2004-01-01

Awarded for The Impossible will Take a Little While by the American Book Association and the History Channel

Nautilus Award for Best Social Change Book

2004-01-01

Awarded for The Impossible Will Take a Little While

Education

New School

BA

Social Research

1973

Affiliations

  • Campus Election Engagement Project
  • Huffington Post

Testimonials

Founder

http://www.habitat.org/

Habitat for Humanity

"Paul Loeb brings hope for a better world in a time when we so urgently need it."

Former Executive Director

http://www.wfp.org/

United Nations World Food Program

“When my daughter asked from college how to be an effective grassroots citizen, I gave her Paul's books.”

Event Appearances

Election 2014—Getting Your Students Engaged

The National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE®)  University of Oklahoma

2014-05-29

The Impossible Will Take a Little While: Finding Hope in Difficult Times

The National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE®)  University of Oklahoma

2014-05-29

Keynote

NACAS (National Association College Auxiliary Services  Orlando, FL

2011-10-01

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Sample Talks

Writing and Social Change

For journalism or writing classes, a discussion of Paul Loeb's evolution as a writer, the kinds of issues that arise when trying to write about social change movements, and the moral responsibility of writers when dealing with larger public issues.

Community Service and Change

Ways participants in service projects can balance their desires to help in concrete, one-on-one ways, while addressing root social structures that cause problems like hunger, illiteracy, and homelessness.

Leadership and Responsibility

Ways student government members and leaders of campus organizations can support greater student involvement and awareness.

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Style

Availability

  • Keynote

Fees

$4000 to $6000