ERIC Number: EJ914143
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010
Pages: 9
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0271-0560
EISSN: N/A
Higher Education's Democratic Imperative
Thomas, Nancy L.; Hartley, Matthew
New Directions for Higher Education, n152 p99-107 Win 2010
Last summer, the Democracy Imperative and the Deliberative Democracy Consortium, two national networks linking academics and deliberative democracy practitioners, hosted a national conference, No Better Time: Promising Opportunities in Deliberative Democracy for Educators and Practitioners ("No Better Time," 2010). Over 250 civic leaders, community organizers, faculty, academic leaders, foundation representatives, and students met at the University of New Hampshire (Durham, New Hampshire) to discuss higher education's role in strengthening democracy in the twenty-first century. After the conference, session leaders reflected on their experiences by completing worksheets and answering a survey. Drawing from these sources, the conference organizers identified priorities for the field and for higher education. Simply stated, higher education has a unique opportunity to establish and assert itself in the movement to strengthen twenty-first century democracy. In this article, the authors discuss five ways higher education can strengthen democracy. These include: (1) teach civics; (2) teach current political controversies; (3) teach democratic skills; (4) establish deliberative spaces for public problem solving; and (5) model democracy. (Contains 1 table.)
Descriptors: Higher Education, Democracy, Democratic Values, Social Values, Role of Education, Conferences (Gatherings), College Role, Worksheets, Surveys, Civics, Political Issues, Problem Solving, Cooperative Planning, Role Models
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A