{"id":327,"date":"2025-01-18T18:13:59","date_gmt":"2025-01-18T18:13:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/on-discourse\/?p=327"},"modified":"2025-04-08T14:53:53","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T14:53:53","slug":"civil-discourse-a-course-designed-for-dialogue-debate-and-deliberation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/on-discourse\/civil-discourse-a-course-designed-for-dialogue-debate-and-deliberation\/","title":{"rendered":"Civil Discourse: A Course Designed for Dialogue, Debate, and Deliberation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This spring, Dr. Elizabeth Smith will be teaching &#8216;Civil Discourse,&#8217; a course designed to explore the meaning and implications of civility in American politics. Throughout the semester, students will <span data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">consider the legal and normative foundations of a democratic republic, critically review historical and contemporary examples of civil (and uncivil) discourse, and explore and evaluate the increasing number of tools being created by various organizations to promote effective discussion of contentious issues.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>At the start of the semester, students will collaborate to establish community norms for the classroom. This participatory process helps set expectations for how discussions will unfold and emphasizes the importance of creating a space where all voices are valued. Together, students will reflect on what makes a conversation civil and constructive and will consider the qualities that encourage openness and respect in discussion.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Smith hopes to improve students listening and communication skills by implementing in class discussions, <span data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">\u201cWalk and Talks\u201d with fellow classmates, and organizing a community event to allow them to practice both engaging in and facilitating discussion with people who may have diverse viewpoints.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In a time when discourse in American politics can feel fractious and divided, this course offers students the opportunity to engage in meaningful, constructive, and civil dialogue. By exploring the foundations of civil discourse, practicing communication and listening skills, and engaging with diverse perspectives, students will develop the tools necessary to contribute to healthier political conversations.Ultimately, this course is about cultivating not just the skills of discourse, but the values of respect, empathy, and understanding that are essential for a thriving democratic society.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This spring, Dr. Elizabeth Smith will be teaching &#8216;Civil Discourse,&#8217; a course designed to explore the meaning and implications of civility in American politics. Throughout the semester, students will consider [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":411,"featured_media":330,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-previous-teachings"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/on-discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/on-discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/on-discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/on-discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/411"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/on-discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/on-discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":447,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/on-discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327\/revisions\/447"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/on-discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/on-discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/on-discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/on-discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}