Georgia College hosts NIF Forum on Public Purposes of Higher Education

By Gregg Kaufman, ADP Campus Coordinator, Georgia College

The Georgia College American Democracy Project’s Public Voice Partnership recently facilitated a “test forum” for a draft of a new National Issues Forum issue book, How Should Higher Education Help Us Create The Society We Want?

The forum was incorporated into a faculty workshop that explored how public deliberation methods can be used to enhance classroom discussion across the disciplines. Students, citizens, and faculty deliberated multiple options that offered distinctive actions aimed at imagining what we expect of colleges and universities with regard to creating the American society we want.

The issue book is related to the American Commonwealth Partnership mission of exploring higher education’s purposes and practices relative to civic life. The NIF authors observed the deliberation and participated in the workshop. The Georgia College forum is one of several forums being held on campuses and in communities prior to publishing the final version.

The Public Voice Partnership is the result of Georgia College’s participation with the Kettering Foundation research initiative, Organizing Centers for Public Life. Georgia College is the University System of Georgia’s designated Public Liberal Arts University.

For more information about ADP at Georgia College, go here.