Timothy J Shaffer | University of Delaware (original) (raw)

Papers & Reviews by Timothy J Shaffer

Striving for Grassroots Engagement and Social Justice through Cooperative Extension, 2022

Journal of Public Affairs Education, 2022

The widening cracks in the foundations of American democracy are leading to appeals for higher ed... more The widening cracks in the foundations of American democracy are leading to appeals for higher educational institutions generally, and public affairs programs specifically, to offer more courses on civil discourse. In this paper, we conduct a curriculum scan to evaluate the extent to which public affairs programs have answered these calls at the undergraduate level. The findings indicate that civil discoursethemed courses are essentially absent in the largest undergraduate public affairs programs, leaving the calls woefully unanswered. Then, analyzing students' pre-post survey responses from a new course that offered content on the intersection of civil discourse and public policy making, we find that a civil discourse-themed course can simultaneously answer the calls and ensure that students meet the objectives of baccalaureate public affairs education recommended by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration. The results are encouraging for public affairs education and democratic governance alike.

Higher Education Exchange, 2021

Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, 2021

Communication Education, 2021

The Practice of Government Public Relations, 2021

What is the relationship between government officials and broader publics when it comes to public... more What is the relationship between government officials and broader publics when it comes to public engagement? What does it look like for public administrators to not only share important public information with citizens, but also to engage them through decision-making processes through democratic processes? What, fundamentally, is the role of government if we take seriously the idea of relations as a central tenet of governance? This chapter focuses on government agencies that are increasingly using more participatory and collaborative public engagement approaches and strategies, helping to create conditions for greater transparency and accountability and meaningful engagement. It explores the idea of public administration through the concept of “democratic professionals” and the idea of what David Mathews of the Kettering Foundation calls democratic strategy of governance with citizens. However, not all attempts to democratize decision-making through collaborative and participatory process have embodied the ideas set forth by many champions of collaborative governance. For this reason, there needs to be considerable intentionality about how public administrators create processes and engage citizens to ensure public engagement is more than a popular phrase attached to experiences that do little to engage people around common problems. A challenge is that many in public administration have not been trained in robust public engagement models that move beyond technocratic approaches to complex problems.

Civility in the 2018 U.S. Senate Debates: , 2020

Journal of Public Deliberation, 2019

This essay offers a response to the special issue essays. It emphasizes that town meetings are a ... more This essay offers a response to the special issue essays. It emphasizes that town meetings are a site for governance and have implications for contemporary deliberative practices.

Community Development, 2019

The field of community development is challenged in the current political culture where polarizat... more The field of community development is challenged in the current political culture where polarization and incivility impact democratic ideals and practices. The role of the community development practitioner in such an environment is to approach one’s work as a civic professional, using technical expertise in public-regarding ways to cultivate opportunities for discussion across lines of difference. Foundational and functional competencies for community development include many important characteristics, but they do not include explicit language addressing political polarization. The article suggests looking to educational and professional development programs in the field of dialogue and deliberation as a way to further develop and refine these competencies.

Journal of Radio & Audio Media, 2019

This article focuses on the use of radio broadcasts as resources for those organizing and conveni... more This article focuses on the use of radio broadcasts as resources for those organizing and convening face-to-face discussion groups in rural communities across the United States in the 1930s and 1940s. Led by the United States Department of Agriculture, small group discussions took place with leadership coming from Cooperative Extension agents from land-grant universities. As public affairs shows were being carried on the major commercial radio channels, the USDA discussion project utilized radio broadcasts to introduce people to the methods of conducting group discussions. The article focuses on the national efforts of the USDA as well as localized attempts to utilize radio broadcasts in the service of democratic discussion, focusing on one of the most robust examples of a land-grant university—the University of Wisconsin-Madison—utilizing technology for democratic discussion in rural communities across the state. It notes shortcomings and challenges, as well as identifying the critical role that radio played in helping citizens and communities begin to think about complex public problems through the use of new technologies.

Cornell University PhD Dissertation, 2014

Journal of Public Deliberation, 2019

For the last five years, we have had the honor of serving as editors of the Journal of Public Del... more For the last five years, we have had the honor of serving as editors of the Journal of Public Deliberation. This issue marks the end of our editorial tenure, and we take this opportunity to both look back and think ahead. In this brief essay, we reflect on what we’ve seen during our time as editors. We begin by describing three important special issues that reflect the state of our field, then provide some details about how we have facilitated JPD’s growth over the past five years, including publication statistics and article download rates. We conclude by discussing where the journal is now and what we anticipate for its future.

Journal of Public Deliberation, 2018

This article introduces the special issue on Deliberative Democracy in an Era of Authoritarianism... more This article introduces the special issue on Deliberative Democracy in an Era of Authoritarianism. The essay highlights the relationship between authoritarianism and democracy, and discusses concerns about the current rise in authoritarianism in political systems. It poses questions about how deliberative scholars and practitioners should respond to authoritarian political contexts and how deliberation should relate to more activist forms of civic engagement. Finally, it previews the articles in the special issue and urges future work in the field to take up ideas, questions, and challenges posed by these essays.

For full special issue, see https://www.publicdeliberation.net/jpd/vol14/iss2/.

The Good Society, 2017

This article focuses on the theoretical and conceptual issues that reside at the intersection of ... more This article focuses on the theoretical and conceptual issues that reside at the intersection of deliberation and action. Looking at the Antigonish Movement and the USDA's farmer discussion groups and schools of philosophy in the 1930s and 1940s, the article identifies salient points about the ways in which institutional leaders developed programs that attended to concerns about the role of facts, values, and strategies by embedding deliberative talk within collaborative efforts through education and community development initiatives.

Deliberation. Democracy. Our Power in Diversity, 2019

Shaffer, T. J. (2019). Education Through a Deliberative Democratic Lens. In Y. Pylynskyi & O. Kop... more Shaffer, T. J. (2019). Education Through a Deliberative Democratic Lens. In Y. Pylynskyi & O. Kopylenko (Eds.), Decentralisation. Deliberation. Democracy. Our Power in Diversity (Vol. 1, pp. 36-55). Kyiv, Ukrain: Legislation Institute of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

This article introduces the special "State of the Field" issue of the Journal of Public Deliberat... more This article introduces the special "State of the Field" issue of the Journal of Public Deliberation. The essay highlights some of the key tensions that our field is wrestling with at the moment, and advocates that we think carefully about the terms we use to describe our work. It previews the articles in this special issue and urges future work in the field to take up the ideas, questions, and challenges posed by these essays.
See the full special issue at: http://www.publicdeliberation.net/jpd/vol10/iss1/

Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 2017

Striving for Grassroots Engagement and Social Justice through Cooperative Extension, 2022

Journal of Public Affairs Education, 2022

Higher Education Exchange, 2021

Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, 2021

Communication Education, 2021

The Practice of Government Public Relations, 2021

Civility in the 2018 U.S. Senate Debates: , 2020

Journal of Public Deliberation, 2019

Community Development, 2019

Journal of Radio & Audio Media, 2019

Cornell University PhD Dissertation, 2014

Journal of Public Deliberation, 2019

Journal of Public Deliberation, 2018

For full special issue, see https://www.publicdeliberation.net/jpd/vol14/iss2/.

The Good Society, 2017

Deliberation. Democracy. Our Power in Diversity, 2019

Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 2017

Small Group Discussion Methods, Aug 2021

Open Alternative Textbook Initiative book focusing on small group communication and related themes.

Creating Space for Democracy: A Primer on Dialogue and Deliberation in Higher Education, Oct 2019

We live in divisive and polarizing times, often remaining in comfortable social bubbles and exper... more We live in divisive and polarizing times, often remaining in comfortable social bubbles and experiencing few genuine interactions with people who are different or with whom we disagree. Stepping out and turning to one another is difficult but necessary. For our democracy to thrive at a time when we face wicked problems that involve tough trade-offs it is vital that all citizens participate fully in the process. We need to learn to listen, think, and act with others to solve public problems. This collaborative task begins with creating space for democracy. This book provides a guide for doing so on campus through deliberation and dialogue.

At the most basic level, this book describes collaborative and relational work to engage with others and co-create meaning. Specifically, dialogue and deliberation are processes in which a diverse group of people moves toward making a collective decision on a difficult public issue.

This primer offers a blueprint for achieving the civic mission of higher education by incorporating dialogue and deliberation into learning at colleges and universities. It opens by providing a conceptual framework, with leading voices in the dialogue and deliberation field providing insights on issues pertinent to college campuses, from free speech and academic freedom to neutrality and the role of deliberation in civic engagement. Subsequent sections describe a diverse range of methods and approaches used by several organizations that pioneered and sustained deliberative practices; outline some of the many ways in which educators and institutions are using dialogue and deliberation in curricular, co-curricular, and community spaces, including venues such as student centers, academic libraries, and residence halls. All of the chapters, including a Resource Section, provide readers with a starting point for conceptualizing and implementing their own deliberation and dialogue initiatives.

This book, intended for all educators who are concerned about democracy, imparts the power and impact of public talk, offers the insights and experiences of leading practitioners, and provides the grounding to adopt or adapt the models in their own settings to create educative spaces and experiences that are humanizing, authentic, and productive. It is an important resource for campus leaders, student affairs practitioners, librarians, and centers of institutional diversity, community engagement, teaching excellence and service-learning, as well as faculty, particularly those in the fields of communication studies, education, and political science.

Routledge, 2019

The state of political discourse in the United States today has been a subject of concern for man... more The state of political discourse in the United States today has been a subject of concern for many Americans. Political incivility is not merely a problem for political elites; political conversations between American citizens have also become more difficult and tense. The 2016 presidential elections featured campaign rhetoric designed to inflame the general public. Yet the 2016 election was certainly not the only cause of incivility among citizens. There have been many instances in recent years where reasoned discourse in our universities and other public venues has been threatened.

This book was undertaken as a response to these problems. It presents and develops a more robust discussion of what civility is, why it matters, what factors might contribute to it, and what its consequences are for democratic life. The authors included here pursue three major questions: Is the state of American political discourse today really that bad, compared to prior eras; what lessons about civility can we draw from the 2016 election; and how have changes in technology such as the development of online news and other means of mediated communication changed the nature of our discourse?

This book seeks to develop a coherent, civil conversation between divergent contemporary perspectives in political science, communications, history, sociology, and philosophy. This multidisciplinary approach helps to reflect on challenges to civil discourse, define civility, and identify its consequences for democratic life in a digital age. In this accessible text, an all-star cast of contributors tills the earth in which future discussion on civility will be planted.

Deliberative Pedagogy: Teaching and Learning for Democratic Engagement, 2017

As the public purposes of higher education are being challenged by the increasing pressures of co... more As the public purposes of higher education are being challenged by the increasing pressures of commodification and market-driven principles, Deliberative Pedagogy argues for colleges and universities to be critical spaces for democratic engagement. The authors build upon contemporary research on participatory approaches to teaching and learning while simultaneously offering a robust introduction to the theory and practice of deliberative pedagogy as a new educational model for civic life. This volume is written for faculty members and academic professionals involved in curricular, co-curricular, and community settings, as well as administrators who seek to support faculty, staff, and students in such efforts. The book begins with a theoretical grounding and historical underpinning of education for democracy, provides a diverse collection of practical case studies with best practices shared by an array of scholars from varying disciplines and institutional contexts worldwide, and concludes with useful methods of assessment and next steps for this work. The contributors seek to catalyze a conversation about the role of deliberation in the next paradigm of teaching and learning in higher education and how it connects with the future of democracy. Ultimately, this book seeks to demonstrate how higher education institutions can cultivate collaborative and engaging learning environments that better address the complex challenges in our global society.

Partnerships: A Journal of Service-Learning and Civic Engagement, 2019

Journ of Community Engagement and Scholarship, 2018

Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 2018

Journal of Public Deliberation, 2018

Oberlin College Center for Teaching Innovation and Excellence, 2017

As the public purposes of higher education are being challenged by the increasing pressures of co... more As the public purposes of higher education are being challenged by the increasing pressures of commodification and market-driven principles, Deliberative Pedagogy argues for colleges and universities to be critical spaces for democratic engagement. The authors build upon contemporary research on participatory approaches to teaching and learning while simultaneously offering a robust introduction to the theory and practice of deliberative pedagogy as a new educational model for civic life. The contributors seek to catalyze a conversation about the role of deliberation in the next paradigm of teaching and learning in higher education and how this connects with the future of democracy. Ultimately, this book seeks to demonstrate how higher education institutions can cultivate collaborative and engaging learning environments that better address the complex challenges in our global society. " A sophisticated and dedicated international community of scholar-educators is working to integrate deliberation into college-level education. This landmark book combines their experience, craft, and scholarship. It addresses every aspect of the topic from theory to measurement. It's an important contribution to pedagogy and to strengthening democracies. "

Jumping into Civic Life: Stories of Public Work from Extension Professionals, 2018

Through eight richly-detailed oral histories, this book helps to open our imagination to the possibilities for professionals to make constructive contributions to the task of making democracy work as it should. The first-hand stories of public work in these oral histories are told by professionals from six different states who either chose or were invited to jump into civic life as active participants. They help us see what it means and takes to be a “citizen professional” who respects and supports the capacities, intelligence, expertise, and agency of others.

Interactivity Foundation, 2018

Rural life has significantly changed over the past 100 years. Within the United States, we seem t... more Rural life has significantly changed over the past 100 years. Within the United States, we seem to be experiencing the end of subsistence farming and community agricultural practices that once enabled small-scale and diversified farming to thrive. Programs that once helped to establish stability within farming communities and create a sense of boundedness through agriculture are being eliminated. In this new era of agriculture, a new set of social and economic challenges are emerging in rural communities. Some suggest that the spirit of cooperation that was present in rural communities is being replaced with forced competition.

On the other hand, the planet’s population is expected to reach 10 billion by 2050, demands for food—and the water, land, and energy necessary to produce this food— is likely to increase with pressing urgency. New farming strategies, technologies, ideas, and policies are also likely to emerge to address the challenges of farming for the future. Many suggest that we should focus on the pressing need for efficiency and not spend too much time lamenting a past era of agriculture.

These challenges invite us to wonder: What will the future of agriculture and rural life look like? What do we want it to look like? Which values inform our hopes for the future?

incubator for Media Education and Development, 2022

There is a natural human instinct which in times of crisis craves a panacea…, " Lucy Wilcox Adams... more There is a natural human instinct which in times of crisis craves a panacea…, " Lucy Wilcox Adams wrote in her 1933 article "Salvaging Democracy." She highlighted how the world had seen in "the last few years…the sweeping victory of Fascism" across Europe. "Most human institutions have at one time or other been the victims of the craving for a formula of salvation, " Adams wrote, and "as governments in Europe turn helplessly toward dictatorship and tyranny…. education is essential if we are to save democracy in America." In some significant ways, we have observed the decline of democracy across the world and at home in the United States. Reputable sources such as Freedom House and the Varieties of Democracy project highlight this along with the press covering this topic with such explicit statements such as "Democracy, are you OK?"

University of Dayton Magazine, 2021

Seek: Research Magazine for Kansas State University, 2019

Journal of Public Deliberation, 2019

Review of The Origins of Collective Decision Making by Andy Blunden (Boston: Brill, 2016).

Democracy Works Podcast / WPSU, 2019

There are a lot of calls these days to "revive civility" in politics. While there are plenty of e... more There are a lot of calls these days to "revive civility" in politics. While there are plenty of examples of uncivil behavior, there's far less agreement about what civility should look like in 2019. Timothy Shaffer joins us this week to talk about work being done to create a new definition of civility and a playbook to put that definition into practice.

Shaffer is an assistant professor in communication studies at Kansas State University, assistant director of the Institute for Civic Discourse and Democracy, and principal research specialist at the National Institute for Civil Discourse. He is the editor of a new book called A Crisis of Civility? Political Discourse and its Discontents.

Tim Shaffer receives Early Career Recognition Award from the International Association for Resear... more Tim Shaffer receives Early Career Recognition Award from the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement.

Engage Magazine, Center for Engagement and Community Development, 2018

The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2017

Deliberative Pedagogy included in August 4, 2017 edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education

Presidential nominees Hillary Clinton (left) and Donald Trump (right) at their rallies in Arizona... more Presidential nominees Hillary Clinton (left) and Donald Trump (right) at their rallies in Arizona leading up to Election Day. The NICD has launched a campaign to heal the rhetoric that has become common in political discourse since the election.

Kettering Foundation News, Sep 16, 2014

"Civic studies asks Shaffer’s question: “What should we do?” It is thus inevitably about ethics (... more "Civic studies asks Shaffer’s question: “What should we do?” It is thus inevitably about ethics (what is right and good?), about facts (what is actually going on?) and about strategies (what would work?). Good strategies may take many forms and use many instruments, but if a strategy addresses the question “What should we do?”, then it must guide our own actions. For many of us, institutions and institution-making are crucial to this enterprise. They embody ideals and values. They can also be seen as crucial resources."

NCDD Community Blog, Jul 8, 2014

This month, the Deliberative Democracy Consortium (DDC) and the International Association for Pub... more This month, the Deliberative Democracy Consortium (DDC) and the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) released a special issue of their collaboratively produced Journal of Public Deliberation, and it is a must-read.

Upper level undergraduate and graduate students seminar on the role of communcation, particularly... more Upper level undergraduate and graduate students seminar on the role of communcation, particularly different forums of face-to-face interaction, in democracy.

The idea of group discussion has deep roots, but hasn't always been thoroughly studied. Groups ar... more The idea of group discussion has deep roots, but hasn't always been thoroughly studied. Groups are comprised of people who are Individuals with different understandings of collective/community identity We need to wrestle with our sense of identity and how that impacts the way(s) we engage others. Some problems are simple. Some are complex. Talking without communicating We too often interact and speak with one another without listening. The challenge is to be able to listen with one another. There are many dimensions to group dynamics when we think about diversity It is essential that we identity and navigate the challenges/opportunities of diversity (broadly defined and experienced) in group settings when people need to communicate and make decisions that affect organizations and their decision-making processes. • We need to be able to identity these challenges/opportunities. • We need to learn skills and practices that help to cultivate and sustain group communication practices. • Working with those who hold different viewpoints, values, etc. is a necessity. There are useful technologies that can transform small group communication and/or create new ways of engaging others. Platforms and technologies exist now that enable small groups of people in groups to engage in civil discourse communication. Leadership in groups/decision making.

Campus Compact Nation Podcast, 2017

Talking it out, deliberative dialogue in higher education: In our eighth episode of the second se... more Talking it out, deliberative dialogue in higher education: In our eighth episode of the second season, Co-Hosts Emily Shields and Andrew Seligsohn sat down with author and scholar Timothy Shaffer about his work and research in deliberative dialogue, including his new book, “Deliberative Pedagogy: Teaching and Learning for Democratic Engagement.” We discussed what it really takes to embed dialogue in campus and community work and some ideas for making it more effective. We also took a detour from the usual pop culture conversation to review Thanksgiving traditions, including Andrew’s recipe for turkey that doesn’t suck.

Teaching and Learning for Democratic Participation, Participedia Webinar, 2018

Teaching and Learning for Democratic Participation, Participedia Webinar

Excerpts from book cover: “Make America Meme Again reveals the rhetorical principles used to desi... more Excerpts from book cover: “Make America Meme Again reveals the rhetorical principles used to design Alt-right memes, illustrating the myriad ways memes lure mainstream audiences to a number of extremist claims. In particular, this book argues that Alt-right memes impact the culture of digital boards and broader public culture by stultifying discourse, thereby shaping how publics congeal. The authors demonstrate that memes are a mechanism that proliferate white nationalism and exclusionary politics by spreading algorithmically through network cultures in ways that are often difficult to discern. Alt-right memes thus present a significant threat to democratic praxis, one that can begin to be combatted through a rigorous rhetorical analysis of their power and influence.” Excerpt from preface by Carolyn Lukensmeyer: “This book [Crisis of Civility] is developed from scholarship in the fields of communication, philosophy, history, psychology, sociology, public engagement, public policy, a...

Grassroots Engagement and Social Justice through Cooperative Extension

eJournal of Public Affairs, 2017

Social justice is a topic that few in higher education oppose, but university faculty members and... more Social justice is a topic that few in higher education oppose, but university faculty members and academic professionals face structural challenges in their efforts to engage with social justice issues. By exploring four dimensions of the university—institutional mission, academic scholarship, professional identity, and pedagogical approaches—the author argues for a rethinking of how faculty and academic professionals approach these dimensions of their work. The author also identifies other fields of scholarship and practice that can help to address pressing public problems in which social justice issues are of central importance.

Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 2017

Communication Education, 2021

Democracy is in trouble. We have been reminded of its fragility. The rise of antidemocratic senti... more Democracy is in trouble. We have been reminded of its fragility. The rise of antidemocratic sentiment and actions highlight the extent to which autocratization endangers the lives of citizens, now engulfing 25 countries and 34% of the world population (2.6 billion). For the last 10 years, the number of democratizing countries dropped by almost half to 16, hosting a mere 4% of the global population (Alizada et al., 2021). Faced with these global trends, as well as democracy’s challenges during the first two decades of the twenty-first century, how can communication studies contribute to the study of civic engagement and student learning today? To offer a response about next steps, we must first look back. Importantly, this is not the first time the world has experienced a challenge to democratic self-governance. Before World War II, the United States dealt with its own rise of authoritarianism, not with force, but with more democracy. Government, universities, and civic organizations cultivated opportunities for people in urban and rural contexts to engage one another in ways that encouraged democracy through education. The forum movement of the 1930s responded to such antidemocratic practices with a doubling down of the efforts to engage diverse people in vibrant group discussion (Keith, 2007; Shaffer, 2017a). Lepore (2020) captures this democratic experiment well when she writes, “It’s a paradox of democracy that the best way to defend it is to attack it, to ask more of it, by way of criticism, protest, and dissent” (p. 21). Asking more of democracy today should prioritize creating space for new types of vibrant discussion, a space that is inclusive and invites marginalized voices. In some ways, communication studies can promote civic engagement and student learning today by responding as it did to the democratic crisis of the 1930s—with more democracy. But how do we expect citizens to discern truth when we have a deluge of information that blurs fact and opinion as well as deal with increased disagreement about the ways to analytically interpret that information (Kavanagh & Rich, 2018; Tollefson, 2021)? Deliberative pedagogy offers a potent intervention to cease the spread of such misinformation, with a charge that seems straightforward but offers challenges for pedagogical research and practice (Longo & Shaffer, 2019). Deliberative pedagogy is defined as a

Community Development, 2020

When it comes to the task of making democracy work as it should in everyday ways and places, prof... more When it comes to the task of making democracy work as it should in everyday ways and places, professionals who are employed by institutions of many kinds can be a problem. All too often, they use their technical knowledge and expertise in ways that dominate, disable, and sideline neighborhood and community members who aren’t employed as credentialed experts. Or they stay out of public work in the messy, contentious realm of civic life altogether because they aren’t welcome, they see it as an inappropriate activity for professionals to engage in, they don’t know what to do, or they’re afraid of losing their jobs. Through eight richly-detailed oral histories, this book helps to open our imagination to the possibilities for professionals to make constructive contributions to the task of making democracy work as it should. The first-hand stories of public work in these oral histories are told by professionals from six different states who either chose or were invited to jump into civic life as active participants. They help us see what it means and takes to be a “citizen professional” who respects and supports the capacities, intelligence, expertise, and agency of others.

Regular Issue, 2018

Review of Deliberative Pedagogy: Teaching and Learning for Democratic Engagement. Edited by Timot... more Review of Deliberative Pedagogy: Teaching and Learning for Democratic Engagement. Edited by Timothy J. Shaffer, Nicholas V. Longo, Idit Manosevitch, and Maxine S. Thomas. (Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2017)

Regular Issue, 2013

Book Review: We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For: The Promise of Civic Renewal in America by... more Book Review: We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For: The Promise of Civic Renewal in America by Peter Levine (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013)

International Critical Thought, 2017

Andy Blunden’s The Origins of Collective Decision Making (2016) is driven by his observation that... more Andy Blunden’s The Origins of Collective Decision Making (2016) is driven by his observation that participants in twenty-first century protest movements and organisations try to work together witho...

National Civic Review, 2016

Human Dimensions of Wildlife, 2011

Special Issue: Deliberative Democracy in an Age of Authoritarianism, 2018

eJournal of Public Affairs, 2016

The author argues that university faculty can create courses that explore deliberative democracy ... more The author argues that university faculty can create courses that explore deliberative democracy theory and practice while also making the structure of the course deliberative and participatory for undergraduate students. Challenging norms within higher education requires thinking differently about one’s pedagogical approach and to connect courses with wider public issues.

Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, 2021

W hat is the appropriate role of passions in democracy? Sharon Krause’s Civil Passions adds to th... more W hat is the appropriate role of passions in democracy? Sharon Krause’s Civil Passions adds to the debate on this highly contested question in democratic theory. Faculty and other professionals whose work includes deliberative forums or related forms of engagement will find this book to be an important contribution addressing the critical question of how to reconcile impartiality with passions. While many would contend that deliberation within a liberal democracy must leave out passions so rational judgments can be made, Krause contends that passions can and should contribute positively to the process. She argues that passions and moral sen-timent are already involved in practical reasoning and should be acknowledged as such. Krause situates her argument between those who hold a neo-Kantian position stating that reason alone motivates individuals to act or make decisions, and those who perceive the role of passion and emotion in motivation and decision-making. She states that

Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 2013

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;qu... more &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;To Serve a Larger Purpose&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; calls for the reclamation of the original democratic purposes of civic engagement and examines the requisite transformation of higher education required to achieve it. The contributors to this timely and relevant volume effectively highlight the current practice of civic engagement and point to the institutional change needed to realize its democratic ideals. Using multiple perspectives, &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;To Serve a Larger Purpose&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; explores the democratic processes and purposes that reorient civic engagement to what the editors call &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;democratic engagement.&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; The norms of democratic engagement are determined by values such as inclusiveness, collaboration, participation, task sharing, and reciprocity in public problem solving and an equality of respect for the knowledge and experience that everyone contributes to education, knowledge generation, and community building. This book shrewdly rethinks the culture of higher education.&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;