PRE-CONFERENCE SYMPOSIUM

JOURNEY TOWARDS DEMOCRACY: POWER, VOICE, AND THE PUBLIC GOOD

Wednesday, January 21, 8:30 am-4:30 p.m.

“The trouble . . . is that we have taken democracy for granted; we have thought and acted as if our forefathers had founded it once and for all. We have forgotten that it has to be enacted anew in every generation, in every year and day, in the living relations of person to person in all social forms and institutions.”
John Dewey

A paradox confronts us today. While young Americans are more involved than ever before in volunteer work in their communities, the younger the American, the more disengaged he or she is with traditional political life. Ironically, this is occurring when the majority of nations in the world are experimenting with various forms and levels of democracy. In contrast, American students today are often unaware of the history of their own nation’s on-going struggle for democracy or of their own power to transform the worlds in which they live—not for their personal good but for the public good.

This Symposium is designed as a working forum to explore ways in which colleges and universities can help resolve this dilemma in the context of new conceptions of a 21st century liberal education. Sponsored by AAC&U’s newly formed Center for Liberal Education and Civic Engagement, created in partnership with Campus Compact, the Symposium will investigate how to effectively put student learning about democracy and the public good at the center of academic inquiry.

• What practices provide students with the knowledge and commitment to be socially responsible citizens in a diverse democracy and an increasingly interconnected world?
• How might students’ engagement with democratic questions be informed by historical contexts, assisted by the powerful interpretative lenses of the disciplines, and evaluated through ethical self-reflection?
• Where are the logical places in the curriculum and co-curriculum for structuring new knowledge and new experiential, community-based learning?

Schedule of Symposium Events

8:30-9:45 am
Welcome:
Caryn McTighe Musil, AAC&U Vice-President, Diversity, Democracy, and Global Initiatives

Panel Discussion: Educating for Democracy: Charting Directions
Richard Battistoni, Professor of Political Science, Providence College
José Calderón, Professor of Sociology, Pitzer College
Elizabeth Minnich, Core Professor, Interdisciplinary Studies, Union Institute and University

10:00-10:45 am
Roundtable Facilitated Discussions: What Do Students Need to Know?
Robert R. Benedetti, Director, Jacoby Center, University of the Pacific
Lauren L. Bowen, Chairperson, Department of Political Science, John Carroll University
Peggy Chang, Director, The Venture Consortium
Susan Davenport, Director of Learner Services, Thomas Edison State College
John W. Folkins, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Bowling Green State University
Mary Lou Frank, Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Kennesaw State University
Christian Hoeckley, Administrative Director, Institute for Liberal Art, Westmont College
Michele James-Deramo, Director, Service Learning Center, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
E. Thomas Moran, Director and Distinguished Service Professor, State University of New York College, Plattsburgh
Rita Pougiales, Academic Dean, The Evergreen State College
Elizabeth Tobin, Associate Dean of Faculty, Bates College
Richard C. Vrem, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Humboldt State University
Gretchen Wehrle, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Notre Dame de Namur University
Belinda Wholeben, Associate Professor of Psycholgy, Rochford College

11:00-12:00
Panel Discussion: Using the Interpretive Lens of the Disciplines for Civic Learning
Moderator: Don Harward, president emeritus of Bates College

Panel:
Sciences: Richard Fluck, Professor of Biology, Franklin and Marshall College
Humanities: Mary Frances Berry, Chairperson for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
Arts: David Scobey, Director, Arts of Citizenship Program, University of Michigan

12:15-1:00
Facilitated Roundtable Discussions: Promoting Campus Dialogues to Put Civic Learning at the Core
Donna Albro, Director of Peer Education in Human Relations, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Mark Aronoff, Deputy Provost, State University of New York at Stony Brook
Glenn R. Bucher, Executive Director, The Boyer Center, Messiah College
Jefferey L. Buller, Dean of the College, Mary Baldwin College
Bettina Caluori, Dean of General Education, DeVry University
Edwin Clausen, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean, Daemen College
Jonathan DeFelice, President, Saint Anselm College
Russell A. Dondero, Professor of Politics and Government, Pacific University
Carol S. Long, Interim Dean, College of Liberal Arts, Williamette University
Karen Olmstead, Director of University Honors and Undergraduate Studies, University of South Dakota
James Pence, Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies, Pacific Lutheran University
Debra Rowe, Professor of Psychology, Oakland Community College
Rick Vaz, Associate Dean, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

1:00-1:30 pm
Keynote Luncheon: Nancy Cantor, Chancellor, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Civic Engagement: Expanding the Boundaries of Liberal Learning

1:45-2:45 pm
Concurrent Sessions: Where the Edges Meet: Campus Programs and Dialogues about Civic Learning
1. Creating Democracy Dialogues: Mapping Strategies
Donald Dahlin, Vice President of Academic Affairs, University of South Dakota
Tracy Fordham, Visiting Assistant Professor of Speech and Theatre, Saint Lawrence University
Linda J. Wharton, Visiting Specialist in Constitutional Law & Civil Liberties, Richard Stockton State University

2. Embedding Civic Learning in the Curriculum
Chris Foreman, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication and Theatre Arts, Eastern Michigan State
Peggy S. Shaffer, American Studies Program Director, and Mary Kupiec Cayton, Professor of History, both of Miami University of Ohio
Lori Weintrob, Associate Professor of History, Wagner College

3. Redefining the Boundaries of Faculty Work
Glenn Acree, Coordinator of Academic Outreach and Undergraduate Research, Belmont University
Richard Coughlin, Program Leader and Associate Professor, College of Arts and Sciences, Florida Gulf Coast College
Peter Kiang, Professor of Education and Asian American Studies, University of Massachusetts, Boston

3:00-4:00 pm
Public Forum: Pedagogical Strategies: Creating Trajectories for Voice and Engagement

Moderator:
John Saltmarsh, Project Director, Integrating Service with Academic Study

4:00-4:30
Concluding Session: The Road Before Us

Moderator: Caryn McTighe Musil

The symposium was supported in part by the Charles Engelhard Foundation and the Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation. AAC&U would like to thank both foundations for their generosity.

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If you have questions, please e-mail us at meetings@aacu.org.