On Discourse in the Classroom

The Furman faculty is dedicated to embracing and seeking opportunities to strengthen their skill and capacity to facilitate and teach strategies for engaging in constructive conversations on challenging issues both within class and in the broader community. This past summer, Erik Anderson, chair of the philosophy department, attended a faculty workshop at Davidson College on deliberative pedagogy, which encouraged faculty to integrate elements of deliberative democracy into their classes. Anderson now includes “deliberation days” on controversial topics in his ethics class. And Liz Smith, professor of politics and international affairs, participated in a seminar as part of the Duke University’s Civil Discourse Project, titled “Teaching Civil Discourse in the College Classroom.” Additionally, Meghan Slining, associate professor of health sciences, is a member of a faculty cohort of the Building Bridges Program sponsored by the Sustained Dialogue Institute. The Furman faculty remains committed to fostering more democratic deliberations and teaching students how to engage in healthy dialogues.