Virtual program on YouTube live, 7 p.m.
(Rescheduled from 4/23/20)

Overdoing Democracy: The Problem of Polarization

Robert Talisse

Vanderbilt University

Democracy is such an important social good that it is natural to think that more is always better. However, current findings regarding polarization suggest that it is nonetheless possible for citizens to overdo democracy. In overdoing democracy, we erode the capacities we need to perform well as democratic citizens.

The program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the departments of philosophy and religion. It is part of the Clarke Forum’s semester theme, Civic Engagement and the Liberal Arts.

Topic overview written by Gabriella Farrell ’21

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Robert B. Talisse is the W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University. An internationally recognized theorist of democracy, Talisse has lectured throughout the world about democracy, moral disagreement, political polarization, and the ethics of citizenship. Overdoing Democracy: Why We Must Put Politics in its Place is his tenth book.

Related Links

1. TEDx Talk: “Putting Politics in its Place”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVhiFTUbJno
2. “Partisan Divide Creates Different Americas”: http://theconversation.com/partisan-divide-creates-different-americas-separate-lives-122925
3. “Why More Democracy Isn’t Better Democracy”: https://blog.oup.com/2019/09/why-more-democracy-isnt-better-democracy/

Video of the Presentation

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Virtual program on YouTube live, 7 p.m.
(Rescheduled from 3/26/20)

Re-Engaging Research through Citizen and Community Science

Jennifer Shirk

Citizen Science Association

Citizen science gives us strategies to think not only about what we can learn from science,  but how we can all learn more together. This talk will explore cases where scientists, resource managers, and community members take the opportunity to engage – to listen and build connections – in order to develop shared understandings through research-based partnerships.

The program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the departments of religion and international business & management and the Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring (ALLARM).  It is part of the Clarke Forum’s semester theme, Civic Engagement and the Liberal Arts.

Topic overview written by Scout Meredith Best ’21

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Jennifer Shirk works to research, advance, and serve the field of public participation in scientific research. As the interim executive director of the Citizen Science Association, she builds collaborations across different citizen and community science contexts to share practical and evidence-based knowledge for leading effective projects. Through her history and affiliation with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology she has worked Read more

University of Wisconsin

From Community Engagement to the Good Society

Wednesday, February 19, 2020
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

How do we go from “keeping things the same” through charity forms of service to “making things better” through social change forms of community engagement?  This talk will argue for why we should make the switch and how we can do it.

The program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by The Center for Civic Learning & Action grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Department of Middle East studies. It is part of the Clarke Forum’s semester theme, Civic Engagement and the Liberal Arts.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Randy Stoecker is a professor in the Department of Community and Environmental Sociology at the University of Wisconsin with an affiliate appointment in the University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension Center for Community and Economic Development. He has a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Minnesota, and an M.S. in counseling from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He conducts trainings and speaks frequently on community organizing and development, participatory action research/evaluation, higher education community engagement strategies, and community information technology. He has facilitated Read more