Please join us on Friday, Oct. 12 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Main Hall 23 for a workshop/discussion open to all members of the Wagner College community, titled “Exploring Free Speech, Civil Discourse, Diversity, and Dissent on Campus and in Public Life.” Lunch will be served.
Civility. It’s all the rage. In a civil society, people with different perspectives, ideology, social identities, and values come together and engage in informed, respectful, and productive dialogue that leads to collaborative action on matters of public concerns, right? In reality, free expression can also be disparaging, polemic, and even paralyzing, provoking justifiable calls for civility and ground rules for discourse. But what happens when a call for civility is really a veiled attempt to chill speech, suppress ideas, and maintain power dynamics? What happens when unfettered speech creates a toxic environment?
Our guest will be Nancy Thomas, director of the Democracy Imperative and director of studies on higher education and public life at CIRCLE, the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, at Tufts University. Thomas is one of the nation’s leading practitioners of deliberative dialogue and widely known for her use of study circles to spark good conversation and worthwhile civic interaction.
Here is the day’s program:
- From 10 to 11:30 a.m., we’ll talk about free speech, civil discourse, diversity, and dissent in different contexts – in the classroom, on campus, and in the public square.
- From 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., we’ll turn our attention to “the next form of democracy,” one that is citizen-driven, dialogic, and collaborative, what some call “deliberative democracy.” This part of our session will include a working lunch.
- From 12:30 to 2 p.m., we’ll examine some Wagner College initiatives, particularly community partnerships, with a view to exploring the possibilities. To what extent are these projects and relationships already democratic? And to what extent is there a need to increase the voice, participation, and decision making power of both our students and our community partners? A good part of this time will be spent investigating what we can do to increase participation and to share decision making, to get more power about our partnerships into the hands of students and community members.
The workshop is sponsored by Project Pericles and the Center for Leadership and Engagement. For more information, email stephen.preskill@wagner.edu.