This Friday, September 1st, as part of Davidson’s back-to-school Welcome Week, the DCI is hosting a Semester Kickoff Party in the 900 Room at the Alvarez Student Union from 11 AM to 1 PM. We welcome all Davidson students, faculty and staff to join us for pizza, deliberation about some hot topics, and even a few prizes. You don’t need to RSVP—bring your friends and drop in any time!
Our Kickoff Party is a place to learn how you can get involved in deliberation about contentious topics of public interest on campus and beyond, and to meet others interested in deliberation on campus. You will also get a chance to meet current DCI Fellows, Senior Fellows, and some members of the DCI leadership team along the way. You’ll also be able to talk with us about our upcoming programs and to find your own way to get involved—whether that means joining a D Team, attending a Deliberative Forum, and/or attending our Deliberative Citizenship Speaker Series.
This fall, our programming is focused on three main themes. We will host a Deliberative Forum in partnership with Davidson’s Political Science Department which will focus on what kind of role, if any, democratic nations ought to take in promoting and defending democracy across the globe (we’ll be sharing more info soon about this event). We have also organized this semester’s deliberative D Teams around three topics—abortion, book censorship, and the relationship between speech and harm—all of which are connected in some ways to autonomy and its relationship to other rights and values. (Sign up for D Teams by Sept. 7th here!) And we’ll have a speaker come to Davidson to discuss how we can bridge divides across political, racial, and religious differences – stay tuned for registration info coming soon!
Of course, we’ll also be hosting our annual Deliberation Facilitator Training Program again at the beginning of this term, too. Learn more about it here, and sign up by Sept. 5th.
We think these topics are all ripe for public deliberation right now, and we hope that you will join us on Friday to learn more and to practice some deliberation with us as we get energized for the coming year. Follow us on your favorite social media site to learn more about our upcoming events!
