The Art of Democracy: 2019 Engagement Symposium
The Office of the Provost, Center for Engagement and Community Development, and the 2019 Engagement Symposium Steering Committee invite campus and community to a day-long symposium dedicated to exploring the Art of Democracy. The event will be held in the K-State Student Union on March 21 and will feature a variety of presentations and performances. Read more.
K-State Votes
An online app and coordinated action by a coalition of campus groups helped boost K-State voter registration for the 2018 elections. K-State Votes - a group of volunteers from the Institute for Civic Discourse and Democracy, the Student Governing Association, Housing and Dining Services, and Staley School of Leadership Studies - partnered with the Manhattan Riley County League of Women Voters to help overcome barriers to registration. Among students, a major barrier was updating their registration address and deciding whether to vote in Manhattan or to request an advance ballot from another county in order to avoid distant commutes on election day. Rather than filling out paper forms and taking them to the correct county seat, Kansans can now go online to www.ksvotes.org to register. Many students, staff and faculty were also unaware of early voting opportunities or the need to verify their polling place. Tabling across campus on National Voter Registration Day September 25 and a deluge of media coverage followed up early programs begun in summer at orientation in residence halls. Workers at several election poll sites noticed an unusual number of young voters on November 6, atypical in mid-term elections. An updated report on rates of K-State election participation is due in 2019 from the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement (NSLVE) thanks to support from President Myers. Read more
Community Solutions to Affordable Housing (CSAH)
CSAH is a community engaged project funded by a 2-year Impact Grant from the Kansas Health Foundation. After a public forum held last spring, fourteen community participants spent the summer meeting and reading background material on what can be done to increase affordability and safety for renters and homeowners alike. On October 2, they presented an Executive Summary of their findings to the Manhattan City Commission (watch presentations October 2 from 16:40). Discussions across multiple stakeholder groups have followed in the second dissemination phase of this project, as housing trusts, neighborhood revitalization, and rental code enforcement are investigated. Anyone wishing to contribute and learn about resources for this complex local and national problem is encouraged to join us.
Civic Engagement Fellows
Dr. Timothy Shaffer, Assistant Professor of Communications Studies and Assistant Director of the Institute for Civic Discourse and Democracy (ICDD) at Kansas State University, has been working in partnership with The Kettering Foundation to establish a Civic Engagement Fellows Program for Kansas State University faculty. Read more here.
Public Libraries lead Public Conversations
Deliberative Pedagogy: Teaching and Learning for Democratic Engagement by Timothy J. Shaffer, Nicholas V. Longo, Edit Manosevitch, and Maxine Thomas
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.
