An Invitation to Civic Dialogue

Those of us who have benefited from the climate of injustice need an invitation from others to join with them in changing our social climate to a climate of justice. The controversaries over national monuments opens the door to explore the question of who needs an invitation from whom and what white people need to learn in order to respond to the civilian invitation from others. The others include future generations, Syrian refugees, migrants at our Southern border, and personal invitations from People of Color. Personal invitations depend on our aptitude in engaging in dialogue, as is illustrated by an imaginary dialogue involving a white man and a black woman. Such dialogues can create the conditions for good conversations, and these conversation can move us toward a climate of justice—an ethical foundation for developing policies to protect our habitat for future generations.

Starbucks and Aristotle

Aristotle argued that democratic participation in decision-making rests on informal encounters between citizens, because these interactions help to build civic friendships. In modern-day North America, the Starbucks corporation has posited itself as a “third place”, a space other than work and home that acts as a theatre for the development of civic friendships. In this essay, I investigate whether visiting Starbucks allows customers to connect to their larger community by providing the opportunity for meaningful social interaction. While Starbucks’ marketing strategies capitalize on the human desire for belonging, its expensive brand succeeds in differentiating citizens by their socioeconomic status, thereby undermining social unity. Furthermore, the environment in Starbucks stores emphasize experiences of personal pleasure rather than the enjoyment of community, as evidenced by the lack of authentic civic dialogue occurring within these spaces. As it encourages customers to settle for less than the formation of civic virtue, Starbucks’ commodification of community may challenge the flourishing of contemporary democracy.

Multiliteracies for Combating Information Disorder and Fostering Civic Dialogue

Widespread misleading stories circulating in networked public spheres have raised debates about their potential harm to democracies, organizations, and individuals. In the face of this challenge, educators have been rightly questioning how to prepare students to thrive in this so-called post-truth era. Scholarship on media and information literacies has often focused on incorporating new topics to address the issue and re-articulating learning goals. This body of work, however, does not address the question of how to deal with fast-paced changes that surround information disorder in the digital age. Based on Stuart Selber’s multiliteracies, this article proposes a set of competencies in combination with an analysis of the factors that contribute to the creation and circulation of false information. My argument focuses on students’ need to effectively identify misleading stories, thoughtfully question the role of technology in society, and ethically engage in civic dialogues. Taken together, these skills and knowledge provide a framework that they can expand upon as the landscape of information disorder shifts.

In the Library

This chapter argues that the natural habitat of most books is not as solitary objects of contemplation and study, but as “social animals” on bookshelves, in store windows, and in the library. In seeking out this unfinished story about the character of books, we are led to consider their roles in human relationships. Turning to one of the most intimate moments in the ancient history of reading, where, in the opening of Cicero’s Topica, the author invites his friend Trebatius into his library, what unfolds is a story about the complex use of books in the negotiation of elite sociality at a moment of extreme political crisis following the death of Caesar. Like the best of books, Cicero’s text shows its reader what is unfinished about all of them: pointing her back to her fellow readers, to civic dialogue and learned friendship, and ultimately out of the library.

"Keep it Sacred!": Indigenous Youth-Led Filmmaking to Advance Critical Race Media Literacy

Due to the influence of digital media, today’s educators encounter unique challenges—and possibilities—surrounding efforts to advance civic dialogue and critical literacy. This case study, which focuses on two projects with rural Indigenous communities, describes student-led research and filmmaking as teaching pedagogy and research methodology within formal and informal educational spaces. Findings demonstrate the potential for Indigenous counter-narratives to support place conscious and culturally revitalizing media education; increased learner motivation through student-centered pedagogy, anti-colonial education and civic engagement; and expanded intercultural dialogue and intergenerational understanding. The study offers implications for educators, researchers, and community partners.

Religious freedom, civic responsibility and local history: an embedded action inquiry

PurposeThis theory-into-practice article centers on American history through the optics of one religious organization's contestations – the Elim Springs Church of Jesus Christ, or Harshmanites as they are commonly known – with state and society. Secondary students explore the history and myriad responses from citizens and the federal government, which provides insight into what it means to be an American.Design/methodology/approachEmbedded action inquiry (EAI) couples investigation with informed action. This whole-class exploration of 19th and 20th century American history transforms into individual, independent inquiries about related historical and current civil liberty contestations. Students communicate newly generated, fully substantiated understandings first to an academic audience and then to the community.FindingsTeachers direct students' historical reading, thinking and writing toward informed civic participation. Engaging primary and secondary sources spark students' curiosity and scrutiny; writing prompts and scaffolding guide students' text-based articulations.Originality/valueHarshmanite history, initiated by an iconic leader and maintained by the congregation into its 3rd century, illuminates the best and worst aspects of America. Secondary social studies students can examine emergent, local tensions when citizens' religious freedoms confront civic duty and societal responses. Through EAI, a novel adaptation of inquiry, students make meaning out of the local history and contribute to civic dialogue.

Teaching about power and empathy in multicultural societies

This essay describes the sequence of three activities (from one U.S. university course) that aimed to (1) increase students’ awareness about social injustices, (2) help them develop their empathy to see the complexity of these injustices, and (3) consider ways to change the social system through civic dialogue. The first activity was designed to explore the dynamics of cultural appropriation using principles of media literacy education and the concept of power. The second activity complicated the picture by encouraging students to reflect on the importance of empathy. Students discussed how empathy can substitute blame in conversations about cultural appropriation. The third activity connected empathy to practices of nonviolent communication (developed by Marshall Rosenberg) and Kingian nonviolence. As a result, students were able to discuss how these principles can be applied to cultural appropriation, especially when media technologies are involved.

Researching Bears Ears: reference practice for civic engagement

Purpose The purpose of this study is to describe practical, generalizable competencies for reference librarians to promote civic engagement and social justice while assisting with politicized queries. Design/methodology/approach Working through an example of tension between land development and protection of an indigenous sacred place illustrates reference strategies that model an ideally inclusive community dialogue. Findings To promote civic engagement, librarians have a role to teach basic civics and to help identify opportunities for public comments and other “leverage points” in a system. An information trail for civic engagement is generated though an interaction between government planning, industry lobbying and citizen activism; it is supported by online and gray literature sources that typically fall outside of typical library collections and databases. A way to grapple with contentious and distorting political claims is to model ideal stakeholder inclusivity, a strategy that also helps to bring marginalized voices into the civic dialogue. Sources from the humanities express cultural and spiritual considerations that are absent from typical political discourse. Research limitations/implications Strategies are based on experience as a staff writer for a community magazine. Practical implications Specific strategies and competencies promote civic engagement during the time period allowed by a typical extended reference dialogue. Social implications An overly sunny view of community problem-solving glosses over some messy realities. To promote civic engagement, librarians must develop competencies to help citizens grapple with marginalization and distorting claims. Originality/value Calls to promote civic engagement and social justice in libraries require librarians to develop new competencies. Working through a case study illustrates specific knowledge and reference practices that support strong democracy.

Social Media Learning as a Pedagogical Tool: Twitter and Engagement in Civic Dialogue and Public Policy

ABSTRACTBoth social media use and the civic disengagement of college students continue to be on the rise, posing instruction challenges around how and what students are interested in learning in their college classrooms. This pedagogical case study examines the effectiveness of using Twitter to develop a Personal Learning Environment (PLE) that incorporates the use of social media learning—specifically using social media to expose students to a greater depth and breadth of contemporary topics—as a tool of instruction in a political science curriculum. I assess whether social media learning equips students with media literacy skills that aid them in engaging in civic dialogue, understanding public policy, and identifying stakeholders on all sides and aspects of an issue—potential precursors to deeper civic engagement. I find that students seem to overestimate their ability to learn about political issues and are skeptical of social media. However, the use of social media as a component of a PLE (1) provides a pathway for enhanced media literacy and deeper learning, (2) makes learning about an issue more appealing, and (3) engages students who are less interested in a traditional classroom delivery.