Join us Tuesday, September 25 at 4:00 p.m. in Hagfors 151 when Harry Boyte delivers the first Democracy Augsburg Teach-in of the year, Addressing the Crisis in Democracy- Lessons from the civil rights movement. Harry Boyte, Senior Scholar in Public Work Philosophy at the Sabo Center, served as a field secretary for Rev. Martin Luther King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference in the southern freedom movement. He will lift up lessons from the movement, including the key role young people played, and relate them to our current crisis in democracy.
In our current climate of political polarization, people with differing perspectives and opinions struggle to engage in productive conversation. We tend to be quick to defend or demonize, deepening the divide that exists in the American people. Even when we want to reach out to those with different perspectives, we often don’t know how.
In response to these issues, the Sabo Center with the Civic Studies Fellows is offering this day-long workshop will feature a morning Better Angels skill-building session in which participants will learn effective ways to communicate with others who differ from them politically or ideologically. Over lunch, Dr. William J. Doherty will deliver a keynote address. Bill Doherty is an educator, researcher, therapist, speaker, author, consultant, and community organizer who designed the Better Angels process.
In the afternoon participants will practice their communication skills in deliberative dialogues on topics including:
How to Prevent Mass Shootings in the United States
Land of Plenty: How to Ensure People Have the Food They Need
Shaping Our Future: The Purpose of Higher Education
Making Ends Meet: How Should We Spread Prosperity?
What Should We Do About the Opioid Epidemic?
Bill Doherty, Facilitator for Better Angels Workshops
Relational Skills for Bridging Divides
Saturday, November 3, 2018
9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Hagfors Center, Augsburg University
Thanks to support from Augsburg University and the Kettering Foundation, there is no cost to attend this event but registration is required.
