Deliberative Citizenship Initiative

Building Democracy One Conversation at a Time

Carla Cole

DCI Deliberation Facilitator Training Kicks Off Hurt Hub Innovation Week

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The DCI’s Deliberation Facilitator Training Program will kick off Innovation Week for the Jay Hurt Hub for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Davidson College. This year’s theme is “Watt Makes You Come Alive?” and events will take place all week beginning September 11th.

Innovation Week will include events, curiosity pop-up booths, programming, and opportunities designed to promote and celebrate innovation and entrepreneurship. The week will end with a community block party. The Hurt Hub brings together innovators and entrepreneurs in the Davidson College community and Lake Norman area. Visit the Hurt Hub’s website to register for events!

The DCI’s Deliberation Facilitator Training Program will equip participants with the knowledge and skills to facilitate difficult conversations across difference. The training will help participants host more vibrant, meaningful, and constructive interactions in their organizations, with their friends and family, and in their communities. The two-part training takes place Sept. 11 and Sept. 17 from 1:30-5:30 pm (both sessions required). Please register here by Sept. 6.

This hands-on, interactive workshop will train participants in innovative techniques that will improve their ability to facilitate difficult discussions about political and social issues among people who may have very different backgrounds, values, and opinions. Although such facilitation can be challenging, it is increasingly needed in a world that is facing a host of immense challenges that require people to come together to solve issues collaboratively. Well-trained facilitators can help us honestly, respectively, and productively engage with these challenges and seek out innovative solutions.

Join a Fall D Team!

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The Deliberative Citizenship Initiative is committed to enhancing the quality of our political discourse with one another through deliberative efforts that span the Davidson community and beyond. One of the ways the DCI aims to achieve this goal is through its Deliberative “D” Teams. D Teams are small groups of 6 to 10 people who meet regularly to discuss important but difficult issues facing society.

Concerns surrounding elections have heightened in recent years as Americans worry about voter fraud and suppression, election security and accessibility, and the fairness and inclusivity of the American electoral system. Various states have enacted stricter voting laws while other have attempted to expand access to the ballot box. As the 2022 elections approach this fall, the DCI’s D Teams will focus on the issues, pressing challenges, and possible solutions related to voting and elections in America.

Over three sessions, D Teams will deliberate about how we can make voting more accessible, more secure, and more fair. The first session will focus on whether we should make voting more accessible through early voting, voting by mail, an increased number of polling places, and more. The second D Team meeting will examine election security and whether we should reduce concerns about voter fraud through poll watching, use of better technology, voter ID laws, and other strategies. The third and final session will address whether we should improve our elections by implementing reforms such as ranked choice voting, proportional representation, and the abolition of the electoral college.

voter d teams

The DCI seeks individuals with diverse perspectives to participate in D Teams to share their thoughts and ideas for broadening our understanding of one another’s opinions and addressing the challenges we face – everyone’s voice is welcome and needed! Teams will meet either online or in person every three weeks from September to November, for a total of three meetings during the fall semester. In order to build and maintain a sense of community and trust within each team, we ask that participants commit to attending all three sessions.

To learn more about this opportunity, visit the DCI website. To register, please sign up here by Sept. 2, 2022. And feel free to share this information with your family, friends, colleagues, and neighbors — anyone who you think might be interested in joining!

DCI Offers Deliberation Facilitator Training!

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Want to learn how to have productive, meaningful conversations about difficult topics and help others to do the same? The Deliberative Citizenship Initiative is excited to host a two-part Deliberation Facilitator Training to help participants learn specific deliberation and facilitation skills. It is open to all Davidson students, faculty, staff, and members of the wider community.

The training will take place at Davidson College on Sept. 11th and Sept. 17th from 1:30 to 5:30 pm, and both sessions are required for completion of the program. Upon completion of the program, participants will be certified DCI Facilitators and eligible to facilitate DCI deliberations (and be paid for doing so).

This hands-on, interactive workshop will train participants in techniques that will improve their ability to facilitate difficult discussions about political and social issues among people who may have very different backgrounds, values, and opinions. Although such facilitation can be challenging, it is increasingly needed in a world that is facing a host of immense challenges that require people to come together to solve issues collaboratively. Well-trained facilitators can help us honestly, respectively, and productively engage with these challenges and seek out innovative solutions.

This 8-hour training, spread across 2 days, will equip participants with skills and knowledge to:

  • Facilitate difficult discussions
  • Organize and host deliberations
  • Encourage deliberative dispositions and humane instincts
  • Build community through productive discourse

This free training opportunity will take place in-person at Davidson College, but a limited number of off-site individuals may participate virtually. Given the limited space, please only sign up if you are able to attend both sessions. Learn more about this program on the DCI website and in the information flyer below, and please register here by Sept. 6th!

Deliberation Facilitator Training Poster

 

DCI Publishes 2021-2022 Annual Report

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The DCI recently published its 2021-2022 Annual Report, which summarizes the DCI’s programming and highlights the accomplishments of the DCI over the past year. Participation in DCI activities significantly increased in its second full year of operation; the number of D Team members, for example, more than doubled! The DCI also extended its work across multiple campuses through the Deliberative Pedagogy (DeeP) Collaborative, a group of 15 faculty members who embedded deliberation into their courses across a wide range of disciplines. It also expanded its presence online and partnered with a wide range of organizations on and off campus to promote and host a variety of deliberative opportunities.

During 2021-2022, the DCI hosted 27 D Teams, two Deliberative Forums, a facilitator training workshop, a DeeP Collaborative workshop, and one guest speaker whose public lectures focused on democracy and public discourse. The DCI’s Fellows Program included eight students, one alum, and one staff member who immersed themselves in deliberative theory and practice and facilitated the DCI’s D Team meetings and Deliberative Forum breakout rooms. The Fellows also completed their own personal deliberative projects that brought together people from across the Davidson campus and community.

Overall, 2021-2022 was very successful for the DCI, even as the ongoing pandemic continued to present challenges. Forum and D Team participants reported high levels of satisfaction with their DCI deliberative experiences. We look forward to the upcoming year as we continue our progress and engagement with the Davidson College community and beyond!

To check out the full 2021-22 Annual Report, click here.

DCI Featured in The Davidsonian

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By Carla Cole, DCI Coordinator

The DCI was recently featured in an article in The Davidsonian entitled “DCI Creates New Forum for Student-Faculty Engagement.” In the article, Kevin Garcia-Galindo ’24, a 2022-23 DCI Fellow, and Dr. Graham Bullock, the DCI’s Faculty Director, explain the purpose of the DCI and ways in which DCI programming helps students to engage in discourse across difference in productive, meaningful ways.

The DCI seeks to reinforce humane instincts in an effort to bridge polarization and foster empathy as we interact with others with whom we deeply disagree. Dr. Bullock explains the need for deliberative spaces and processes as a means of approaching difficult problems and promoting healthy democracy, and how deliberation can catalyze “creative solutions that may transcend where we started.”

The article highlights DCI programming, including the Fellows Program, Deliberative Forums, D Teams, and Commons Conversations. The Fellows Program is the core of the DCI, as Fellows serve as student leaders who immerse themselves in deliberative theory and practice. They facilitate deliberative forums, D Teams, and the newly launched Commons Conversations, which provides a space for students to deliberate about issues important to them in a productive way.  As Garcia-Galindo states, getting DCI participants to talk to each other “deeply about their beliefs and values during conversations that feel like they really matter has been such an inspiring opportunity for me, one that I hope to continue in the future.”

You can read the full article here.