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 11^th.

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.

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.

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!

The training will take place at Davidson College on Sept. 11^th and Sept. 17^th 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. 6^th!

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.

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.

-By Carla Cole, DCI Coordinator

The Verna Miller Case Research & Creative Works Symposium, which showcases outstanding student achievement, was held April 30, 2022. DCI Fellows Kevin Garcia-Galindo and Ben Kellogg were among the more than 700 students who participated in the lively mix of research presentations, performances and displays at the college’s annual Symposium. They presented a poster highlighting the programs and events of the DCI.

The symposium offers a window into the offerings of a college that stresses a broad liberal arts education. It is named for the Beverly F. Dolan Professor Emerita of Biology, founding director of the John Crosland Jr. Center for Teaching and Learning and Davidson’s first associate dean of faculty, Verna Miller Case, who retired from Davidson in 2019.

By Carla Cole, DCI Coordinator

The Deliberative Citizenship Initiative and Davidson College Writing Program are sponsoring a public lecture featuring Leila Brammer, Director of the Parrhesia Program for Public Discourse at the University of Chicago on March 22, 2022 at 7:30 pm. Guests may register here to attend the lecture in person at the 900 Room in the Alvarez College Union (capacity is limited) or via Zoom.

In her remarks, Dr. Brammer will address how freedom of expression in academic and civic environments recognizes the centrality of multiple perspectives, differences, and disagreements to test and develop the best thinking to address collective challenges. Public discourse today is often critiqued for divisiveness that fails to reflect these foundational practices and leaves many unwilling to enter into essential conversations that should animate a healthy democracy. Dr. Brammer will explore how the lens of discourse theory exposes the limits of our current modes of discourse and suggests important ways to reimagine and transform how we engage with one another on campuses and in our communities.

Following the lecture, guests are welcomed to ask questions.

This lecture is part of Davidson College’s “Freedom of Expression Week 2022: Speak. Listen. Learn. Do.”

Leila Brammer is the Director of the Parrhesia Program for Public Discourse at the University of Chicago. Rooted in the Chicago Principles of Freedom of Expression, the Parrhesia Program curricula, programming, and outreach seek to foster the capacity for vigorous, inclusive, and productive discourse in the classroom, campus, and civic life. Building on the history and theory of freedom of expression and rhetoric, the curriculum and programming promote and model academic and civic practices of dialogue, deliberation, and advocacy. Outreach efforts include workshops and seminars for college/university and high school faculty and students to explore and embed both the principles and practices of open discourse in curricula, campus life, and surrounding communities.

Previously, Dr. Brammer developed a civic engagement curriculum and public deliberation and dialogue program at Gustavus Adolphus College that were recognized nationally by the American Association of Colleges and Universities and the National Communication Association. In her work in public deliberation and dialogue, Dr. Brammer builds and facilitates frameworks in which community members come to understand problems from multiple perspectives and work together to develop evidence-based approaches to address challenging civic issues.

By Carla Cole, DCI Coordinator

Cadie McNaboe, 2020-2021 Deliberative Citizenship Initiative Fellow and Co-Convener and Davison ‘22 political science major, shares the impact deliberation has had on her life in the Davidson Journal Magazine article, “Moving From the Loudest Voice to Listener, From Debate to Deliberation.” Cadie discusses how her training and experiences as a Fellow with the DCI helped her in her classes and personal relationships. Cadie notes the importance of active listening and how her use of conversation maps helped her to become more engaged in her classes and other conversations.

Regarding her experience facilitating DCI discussions for forums and D Teams, Cadie states, “As a facilitator in the deliberations, my role wasn’t to amplify my own thoughts. Instead my goal was to create space for all participants to share, and then guide them in seeing how their different perspectives overlapped. Going from a mindset that highlights the importance of your opinion to a model where all voices are meant to be equal, was a fundamental shift.”

Cadie embraced this shift and implemented it into various aspects of her life, including family dinners where potentially divisive conversations took place. Cadie was able to facilitate a family conversation about contentious political issues and find areas of common ground rather than chaos. Cadie says she isn’t sure whether deliberation can transform our democracy, but says, “what I do know for certain is that deliberation has fundamentally transformed me.” You can read the full article here.

By Carla Cole, DCI Coordinator

Davidson’s Deliberative Citizenship Initiative, Davidson’s Center for Civic Engagement, and the North Mecklenburg Economic Mobility Collaborative invite you to attend an online deliberative forum February 15^th from 7 to 9 pm. The forum will begin with a talk from three expert panelists followed by small breakout group facilitated deliberations. Panelists represent a variety of perspectives and include Sheri Chisolm, Executive Director of Leading on Opportunity, Kieth Cockrell, President of Bank of America Charlotte, and Patrick Garry, author and Professor at the University of South Dakota’s School of Law and Director of the Hagemann Center for Legal & Public Policy Research.

Nationally, people across the United States are beginning to question the concept of the American dream as income inequality rises, poverty deepens, and access to education and healthcare opportunities appear unequally distributed.  If the American dream does exist, how might we begin to understand this abstract concept? In our everyday lives, how do we define this idea of economic mobility, and what different ideas have been proposed to make it more achievable for everyone? This forum will address the challenges of economic mobility and possible strategies for making the American dream more accessible to everyone.

The forum will enable participants to explore important questions, learn from experts, listen to the perspectives of others, and share ideas about economic mobility. We request that all registrants plan to attend both the panel and small group discussions, as they are designed to complement one another.

Due to the limited number of DCI trained facilitators, registration is limited, so please sign up today! This event is free and open to the public.

By Carla Cole, DCI Coordinator

As the holidays approach, many of us will be gathering with friends and family. At some point, politics is likely to rear its (often ugly) head during conversations. Should we retreat or engage? 2020-2021 DCI Fellow Dalton Langdon responds, “engage,” and I agree! Political discussions don’t have to be nasty or even contentious – we can actually make them productive and meaningful by utilizing deliberative skills and adopting deliberative dispositions! In his 2020 blog, Dalton offers guidance for engaging in political conversations during the holidays. In addition to his suggestions, I encourage us to all embrace a commitment to egalitarianism, humility, open-mindedness, curiosity, empathy and charity . Embracing these deliberative dispositions allows us to foster our shared humanity, find common ground, and leave conversations feeling fulfilled, not frustrated.

When we treat our interlocutors as equal participants in a conversation, we demonstrate respect for their humanity and perspectives. When we approach others with humility, we understand that we do not know everything; this allows us an opportunity to grow from learning the perspectives of others. When we engage with an open mind and curiosity, we allow ourselves to expand the scope of our own knowledge and truly hear the ideas of others.

When we approach others with empathy, we demonstrate compassion for others and respond to disagreements with goodwill. When we offer charity, we assume the best – and not the worst – about others, and we are able to navigate disagreements with grace.

When we actively listen to others, we are able to fully hear and consider their perspectives. When we approach a conversation with anticipation, we are open to changing our own positions based on good argument and reason. When we use evidence to support our perspectives, our arguments are more robust and meaningful. When we seek to find common ground, we find our shared humanity. When we find common ground, we are able to generate solutions to shared problems.

So, this holiday season, try adopting deliberative dispositions and following the recommendations Dalton offers in his blog so you may deck the halls – not your uncle!