Artists use so many different mediums to comment on their surroundings, some use it as an opportunity to make a statement on current events and government action. Photographer and activist, Pato Hebert, sits down with us to discuss art's undeniable place in the conversation about democracy.

Dr. Barbara Schaal, Dean of Arts and Sciences and Mary-Dell Chilton Distinguished Professor Professor of Biology at the Washington University in St. Louis discusses the importance of a liberal arts education, and of including science and scientific expertise in policy and decision-making processes to strengthen democracy.

From teaching information literacy, to providing community gathering spaces, to fostering access to information, to connecting people with each other, and more, James Madison University Librarians Kristen Shuyler and Liz Chenevey discuss their research about how libraries of all types in Virginia and across the country support democracy and the civic life of their communities.

See the show notes with links mentioned in this episode at https://j.mu/news/civic/2019/07-15-democracy-matters-episode-3.shtml

Two questions animate our work: What if? How so? The work of imagining is something we should take very seriously in civic engagement. It's difficult to engage our senses in this difficult and academic work and the shrinking imagination stifles our work. Professor Tim Eatman, Dean of the Honors Living-Learning Community and Associate Professor of Urban Education in the College of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University, discusses the five senses to engage in the work of imagining: hope, history, passion empathy, planning.

See the show notes with links mentioned in this episode at https://j.mu/news/civic/2019/07-16-democracy-matters-episode-4.shtml

Communities around the world are demanding full participation in every step of the research process, from identifying the issues to be looked at, to prioritizing them, to developing the research design, to creating the instruments used to collect the data, to being involved in the analysis of the data and in the development of policy prescriptions. As a result, increasingly university-based researchers are finding that a collaborative or participatory approach in which they co-investigating with the people most deeply impacted by a policy or issue is the only way they can proceed to do their work. Otherwise they can't get the cooperation of the people who are the source of the most important knowledge and insights. Dr. Kenneth Reardon, Professor of Urban Planning in the School for the Environment and Director of Urban Planning and Community Development at University of Massachusetts Boston talks about advancing student civic learning, conducting community-based research, fostering reciprocal partnerships, building institutional commitments to engagement, and enhancing higher education's contributions to the public good. He also talks about his work with the Blue Hair Brigade on the East St. Louis Action Research Project, which is the subject of his new book, Building Bridges: Community and University Partnerships in East St. Louis. Order the new book from Social Policy Press or on Amazon.

See the show notes with links mentioned in this episode at https://j.mu/news/civic/2019/07-17-democracy-matters-episode-5.shtml

Academic communities can be major drivers of civic engagement and critical thought around major issues. JMU Senior Ethan Gardner talks with Anna Williams and Yeimy Gamez Castillo, two students from the Rutgers-Newark University Honors Living Learning Community who attended the 2019 Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement Conference. Their conversation covers a variety of important topics on how academics can be infused with civic engagement initiatives. Additionally, they discuss the inspiring specific projects undertaken by Anna, who created a student union to facilitate communication and action in connection with the Student Governing Association, and Yeimi, who put together multiple public art initiatives to provide a platform for community members to share their stories on pressing issues. This episode is moderated and focused on the work of students.

John Dewey said that "Democracy has to be born anew every generation, and education is its midwife." Although people who go to college are slightly more likely to vote, their participation in other forms of political engagement are actually slightly depressed. There is more we can do in both academic AND student affairs to really make a difference in preparing students to be actively engaged in democracy. In this episode, we speak with Dr. Elizabeth Bennion, Political Science Professor and founding director of the American Democracy Project at Indiana University South Bend, and Andrew Lardie, Associate Director for Service and Leadership at the McKeen Center for the Common Good at Bowdoin College.

See the show notes with links mentioned in this episode at https://j.mu/news/civic/2019/07-28-democracy-matters-episode-7.shtml

Student attention is a scarce commodity. What are the best opportunities for capturing student attention to engage them in civic learning and democratic engagement? In this episode we talk with Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, Executive Director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, and Michael Peshkin, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern University. As a first step to deeper engagement in civic life, Northwestern University registers every incoming student to vote during orientation, and voter registration exceeds 96%. The institutionalization of voter registration began with a Mechanical Engineering professor and students. The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge encourages higher education institutions to help students form the habits of active and informed citizenship, make democratic participation a core value on their campus, and cultivate generations of engaged citizens who are essential to a healthy democracy. ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) Northwestern: Student Voter Registration Exceeds 96 Percent (video) How one university teaches its students to vote (and it's old-school) by Kim Castle, Janice Levy and Michael Peshkin The Cost of Convenience: An Experiment Showing E-Mail Outreach Decreases Voter Registration by Elizabeth Bennion (Indiana University) and David Nickerson (Notre Dame)

See the show notes with links mentioned in this episode at https://j.mu/news/civic/2019/08-05-democracy-matters-episode-8.shtml