An election year program the week of Oct. 23-28 will focus on civic involvement by Detroit area young people in political affairs.

Wayne State Professor of Political Science Otto Feinstein has broadened his long-running "Urban Agenda" program that encourages civic involvement by young people by adding an international dimension to the program this year.

Feinstein has organized a weeklong series of programs-to take place at Wayne State and in metropolitan area schools-entitled "The Politics of Inclusion: Globalization and Civic Literacy," scheduled for the week of Oct. 22.

The Urban Agenda Program, a staple on campus since 1986, seeks to raise consciousness about political issues, increase the number of people voting, and involve people in their schools and communities.

Mornings from Monday to Thursday, an estimated 20,000 middle school, high school and adult education students will meet at 120 different sites for "cluster conventions," said, to develop their own youth urban agendas. The following Saturday, representative teachers and 600 students from the cluster meetings will get together at Wayne State to prepare a "Southeast Michigan Youth Urban Agenda."

The international dimension to this year's program grew out of two international conferences held at the Institute of Education at the University of London last July. Some 200 researchers and policy makers from 30 countries participated, Feinstein said, and through networking with participants there and at several other conferences in the U.S. and abroad, participants decided to broaden the agenda for the civic literacy meeting at Wayne State.

Afternoons and evenings during the week of Oct. 23-28 will be devoted to seminars, presentations and panels. Adult education seminars, ethnic conflict panels and other sessions will feature dozens of American and international speakers, including Olga Volkova of the Russian Academy of Science; Sheri Hamilton, an educator from South Africa; Talvi Marja, of the Estonian Parliament; and Rifat Okcabol, a professor of adult education from Turkey.

Other international participants will include Jozsef Katus of the University of Leiden and University of Budapest; Mitja Zagar, University of Ljubljana; Silva Meznaric, University of Zagreb; Mara Ustinova, Russian Academy of Sciences; Walter Leirman of the University of Louvain; Jagdish Gunara, University of London; and Rodolfo Stavenhagen, Colegio de Mexico.

For complete information, visit the Urban Agenda Web site, www.urbanagenda.wayne.edu or phone (313) 577-6337 or e-mail Feinstein at O.Feinstein@wayne.edu.