Promoting Civil Discourse in the University Community
October 18, 2022
The Lucas Center For Faculty Development invites you to join us for a session on:
Promoting Civil Discourse in the University Community
Presented by: Christopher Phillips, Ph.D. & Cecilia Chapa Phillips, M.Ed., Co-Founders
of the Democracy Café
In an era of political polarization too often coupled with a demonstrated intolerance
for a plurality of perspectives -- nowhere more evidenced these days than on many
college campuses - how can we cultivate, practice, and model the habit of civil discourse?
What exact IS civil discourse? Can it involve impassioned argument and at times heated
debate, or does it depend on the issue, and what's at stake? How do we best frame
questions so that they tend to be more conducive to thoughtful exploration of a variety
of points of view, and in ways that connect? Is there an 'art' to this? How do we
best go about exploring questions, especially when they touch on 'hot button' topics?
While there are no 'magic bullets' to making college campuses hotbeds of freedom of
expression and dialogue, there are nonetheless some time-tested ways of moving more
and more in that direction.
This workshop strives to provide a roadmap to achieving a more healthy environment
when it comes to freedom of expression and thoughtful dialogue - in tandem with one
another - on the college campus.
This session will be facilitated virtually via Zoom on Monday, November 7th from 1:00p-3:00p.
