UConn Advance - March 12, 2007 - ‘Education for Democracy’ speaker series to begin March 14

A new series exploring the connections between university education and democracy will begin March 14 with a presentation on the role of art in democracy.

“Education for Democracy: A Series of Close Encounters with Democratic Educators” will feature six guest presenters, all of whom have worked in or designed college-level democracy-related programs. Each presentation will be followed by an informal discussion.

The series includes:

Wednesday, March 14, Pam Korza, “Animating Democracy through the Arts.” Korza is co-director of Animating Democracy, a program of Americans for the Arts;

Thursday, March 22, Nancy Thomas, “Educating for a More Deliberative Democracy.” Thomas is director of the Democracy Project for the Society for Values in Higher Education, a senior associate with Study Circles Resource Center, and coordinator of Democracy Imperative, a national network of practitioners and scholars who have agreed to work together to mobilize higher education for democratic dialogue, public discourse, and social change;

Thursday, March 29, Kai Degner, coordinator of OrangeBand initiative, now in place on six campuses;

Wednesday, April 4, Chris Clamp, a professor of community economic development at Southern New Hampshire University;

Wednesday, April 11, Jessica Gordon Nembhard, a professor of African American studies and member of the Democracy Collaborative, University of Maryland;

Thursday, April 12, Matt Leighninger, executive director of the Democracy Consortium and author of The Next Form of Democracy.

The series will be held in the Student Union, Room 303, from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Some are scheduled on Wednesdays, others on Thursdays, to enable more people to attend at least some of them.

Guest speakers will also be available for additional discussions just before or just after their scheduled presentations.

For more information, contact Len Krimerman, emeritus professor of philosophy, at 860-486-3467 or lenmvgeo@sbcglobal.net; or Christine Wilson, director of student activities: Christine.Wilson@uconn.edu.