The DCI has wrapped up its third year of deliberative programs and has just published its third Annual Report! As we prepare for another academic year full of Deliberative Forums, Speakers, D Teams, and Training Programs for our Fellows, Deliberation Facilitators, and Deliberative Pedagogy (DeeP) Collaborative Faculty Members, we want to share some highlights from this report. We hope that you find something that inspires you to join the DCI and engage with others on the pressing issues facing our society.
Quick tip: If you already know you’d like to get involved in the DCI this year, click here to learn more about our Fall 2023 D Teams and here for more about our upcoming Deliberation Facilitator Training Program!
We started off the 2022 year with our first-ever Semester Kickoff Party, where students, faculty, staff, and community members gathered to learn more about the DCI’s mission and programs, which was followed by our Deliberation Facilitator Training Program, where we trained 44 new facilitators, including our ’22-’23 DCI Fellows and DeeP Collaborative cohorts. The DCI Fellows went on to facilitate conversations among our D Team members, Forum participants, and—in the course of completing their own deliberation projects—other groups on campus and in the wider community. All told, over 850 people participated in last year’s DCI programs.
Last year, the DCI expanded its reach within the Davidson campus community. Our Fellows organized and facilitated a friendly deliberative competition about the greatest actors, athletes, and musicians of all time at our Deliberating GOATs event. Fellows also hosted Commons Conversations, informal lunchtime discussions with Davidson students about a wide range of salient topics. Fellows also held office hours at the E.H. Little Library, where the DCI’s newly curated capsule collection of resources and reading materials is on display. The collection is always being updated, so stop by the library to check it out!
We collaborated with academic departments, co-curricular programs, and community partners throughout the year. For example, we co-hosted a forum with the Bonner Scholars Program during which DCI Fellows facilitated conversations among Bonner scholars about free speech and inclusion. And we hosted our second year of the Deliberative Pedagogy (DeeP) Collaborative for faculty from both Davidson and Associated Colleges of the South (ACS) institutions.
Visit this page to read our newly published 2022-2023 Annual Report, where you can find out all about our goals, programs, and growth over the three years we’ve been hosting deliberations and building our capacity to engage with one another on challenging topics.
