Posted on 06/13/2022 12:43:48 PM PDT by karpov
Since the rise of social media, many students have gotten used to discussing difficult topics within the protection of their own echo chambers. Students are often not expected to defend their points of view or engage with others of differing opinions. While universities frequently support such closed-mindedness with “safe spaces” and the barring of certain speakers from campus, some university programs and faculty are attempting to push back against this anti-intellectual trend.
One such program is housed at UNC-Chapel Hill, the mission of which, in part, is “to teach a diverse community of undergraduate, graduate, and professional students to become the next generation of leaders.” Some at UNC seem to recognize that students cannot become future leaders without being able to debate and have civil conversations with those who disagree with them. Students need to practice such skills and receive exposure to a wide range of ideas. This need is what propelled the founding of the Program for Public Discourse (PPD)
Established in 2019, PPD aims “to support a strong culture of debate and deliberation at UNC through curricular and extracurricular programs.” According to its website, the program aims to accomplish this through faculty collaboration, events, and student opportunities.
Assigned to pilot PPD’s development was Chris Clemens, at that time a UNC senior associate dean and now the university’s provost. Clemens formed an advisory board that included UNC Board of Governors members, as well as members of the Board of Trustees, UNC faculty, and other academics. Programming first began in late 2019 with a panel event titled “Thinking for Yourself” and continued throughout 2020 and 2021. By the time PPD began its first speaker series in March 2021, Clemens had been promoted out of his role and replaced by political science professor Sarah Treul.
(Excerpt) Read more at jamesgmartin.center ...
What’s lacking is not public discourse, if public discourse means blasting out verbiage to the masses. What’s needed is less listening to the blasters and more conversations with people you know.
Clemens had been promoted out of his role and replaced by political science professor Sarah Treul.
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One sign something is working is to promote the leader elsewhere ans appoint someone who will reinforce the status quo.
Many a communist has graduated from chapel hill and many a thief as well
UNCCH the originator of the non existent Black Studies courses so they could recruit black athletes and leave them dumb as bricks and then have their white accountant graduates rob DEM blind!-)
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