Higher education helps students along a transformative path to citizenship by providing knowledge and experiences that help them become effective and responsible participants in democracy. The pedagogies discussed in this book vary in the student populations they target, the courses to which they are linked, and the nature of the democratic principles to which students are exposed; nevertheless, the authors maintain a unified commitment to preparing students for a life of democratic citizenship. By teaching students citizenship skills, including expressing opinions, working collaboratively, and participating in dialogue and civic reasoning, students prepare to discuss major issues that they face nationally and locally.
The authors’ discussions of scholarly and practical knowledge about pedagogical strategies, such as dialogic and deliberative pedagogies, civility, civic education, and the social contract, position educators to help students learn about democracy through experiences and teach them strategies for engaging in productive disagreement. These steps are essential for active democratic engagement beyond the classroom. This goal animates Encouraging College Students’ Democratic Engagement in an Era of Political Polarization. Each chapter offers insight into how higher education can infuse modern democracy with diverse voices, engaged citizens, and a reframing of political talk.
This work argues that colleges and universities are important locations for building students’ capacities for civic participation. Grounded in literature and personal experience, the authors advance pedagogical strategies that promote civic responsibility and prepare students to navigate today’s polarized political landscape.
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A valuable resource for all teacher-scholars who aspire to teach the skills of citizenship required for cultivating and caretaking a robust civil society predicated on civic self-actualization and democratic self-determination. * Steve Rahko, Assistant Professor of Communication, Illinois State University, USA * Students need to emerge from their college experience as active and participating citizens in a republican democracy. Universities have an obligation to train students for that citizenship, but our pedagogical tools often are inadequate to provide them with the best preparation for active engagement. In Angela McGowan-Kirchs Encouraging College Students Democratic Engagement in an Era of Political Polarization", I found a wealth of strategies and tactics that I want to employ for my students. Experienced educators share their methods for enhancing civil discourse, overcoming polarization and negative partisanship, and preparing students for the active citizenship that a hyperconnected world requires. * Chapman Rackaway, Professor of Political Science, Radford University, USA *
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This work argues that colleges and universities are important locations for building students capacities for civic participation. Grounded in literature and personal experience, the authors advance pedagogical strategies that promote civic responsibility and prepare students to navigate todays polarized political landscape.
Introduction: Pedagogical Strategies for Educating Emerging Citizens in
a Polarized Era
Angela M. McGowan-Kirsch
Chapter 1: Dismantling Polarization through Dialogic and Deliberative
Pedagogies
Laura W. Black & Carson S. Kay
Chapter 2: A Practice Field for Democracy: Harnessing the Potential of
Sports to Promote Democratic Deliberation in the College Classroom
Rebecca A. Alt
Chapter 3: Promoting Democracy: Civic Education in an Era of Anti-Democratic
Unrest
Kevin R. Meyer & Stephen K. Hunt
Chapter 4: The Civil Dialogues Were Dope: Civil Dialogue® as A Tool for
Engaging Students in Difficult Conversations in the Classroom
Katrina N. Hanna, Robert J. Razzante, & Jennifer A. Linde
Chapter 5: An Interdisciplinary Civics Approach: Teaching the Social Contract
and Lived Civics
Ben Epstein, Molly W. Andolina, and Kristen Pengelly
Chapter 6: Reframe Political Talk as Discursive Civic Engagement
Pamela Conners, Sara A. Mehltretter Drury, Amanda Nienow, Laura Wysocki,
Katherine Knobloch, & Reni Joseph
Chapter 7: Integrating Interpersonal Communication and Rhetorical Studies in
a Course Highlighting Deliberative Democracy
Sherry G. Ford & Sally Bennett Hardig
Chapter 8: Public Discourse: Civic Action as Training for Democratic
Engagement
Sarah Wolter & Hagar Attia
Chapter 9: Preserving the Liberal Public Sphere through AI Engagement
Heather Walters
Chapter 10: Looking for Difference: Using Declamation and Controversial
Images to Frame Civic Engagement
Adam J. Gaffey
Chapter 11: Finding Common Ground: How Two Divergent Colleges Converged
Around Conversation
Tim Muehlhoff & Michael Y. Ahn
Chapter 12: How to Have Difficult Conversations: Using Deliberation to
Promote Students Democratic Decision-Making
James Proszek, Chris Anderson, Brian A. Long, Augustus Isaac, & Corydon
Taylor
Chapter 13: Preparing to Have Campus Conversations: Infusing Deliberative
Pedagogy with an Ethic of Dialogue
Jennifer L. Borda & Renee Guarriello Heath
Conclusion: Final Thoughts and Future Actions
Angela M. McGowan-Kirsch
Angela M. McGowan-Kirsch is associate professor of communication at The State University of New York at Fredonia.
