The purpose of this DCI program is to create opportunities for students in diverse classroom settings to productively engage with one another on difficult issues on which they may disagree.
It supports faculty members interested in incorporating deliberation into their classes by organizing workshops, hosting discussion groups, and publicizing deliberation-involved courses.
The overview document for this program, Deliberation Across the Curriculum, describes the rationale behind classroom deliberation, explores the connections between discussion, deliberation, and the liberal arts, and maps out how a deliberative process might play out in a curricular setting.
The DCI has also developed a companion document, DCI Pathways to Deliberation in the Classroom, that further explores why deliberation is relevant to courses across the liberal arts curriculum. It identifies three specific ways faculty can incorporate deliberation into their courses — by adding “deliberation modules” to existing syllabi, by developing “deliberation-involved courses,” or by creating “deliberation-focused courses.” The DCI is available to help faculty implement any of these options.
The Deliberative Pedagogy (DeeP) Collaborative
Additionally, the DCI has launched the Deliberative Pedagogy (DeeP) Collaborative, a community of faculty members dedicated to learning about and utilizing innovative ways that foster productive deliberation in their courses. More information about the DeeP Collaborative can be found below.
Over the course of the 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24 academic years, 20 Davidson faculty members from a wide range of disciplines and departments participated in the Collaborative. A grant from the Associated Colleges of the South (ACS) enabled an additional six faculty members from ACS institutions, including Furman, Morehouse, Rollins, Spelman, and Southwestern, to join as well. These faculty members met together throughout the year as they learned about deliberative pedagogy strategies and integrated them into their syllabi. They then reflected on their experiences in a series of blog posts on the DCI website — check them out here.
With the generous support of the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, the DCI is hosting the Collaborative for a third and fourth year. The 2023-24 cohort includes 22 faculty members from 13 different institutions. They launched their year together with an in-person orientation workshop in August, and are currently developing and teaching their own deliberation-involved courses.
DeeP-Collaborative-2024-PosterThe document below provides more information about the Collaborative experience and how to apply to join the 2024-25 cohort. and invitation to apply to join our 2024-25 cohort of the DeeP Collaborative. Review of applications will begin on Monday, April 22 so interested faculty are encouraged to apply by then. All faculty members who teach undergraduate students either at Davidson or other higher education institutions are welcome to apply.
DeeP-Collaborative-Invitation-2024-25Sign-up below for updates on upcoming opportunities to learn more about incorporating deliberation in the classroom. If you have ideas about how to do so or are a faculty member interested in creating a deliberation-involved course or would like to participate in the DeeP Collaborative, please email dci@davidson.edu.
If you would like to learn more about the DCI’s Deliberation on Campus Program, click here.
