2021-2022 Fellows Research
Growing the Intercollegiate Civil Disagreement Partnership by Jacob Fay Postdoctoral Fellow, Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, Harvard University
1. Overview My fellowship focused primarily on the conceptual and pedagogical development of the Intercollegiate Civil Disagreement Partnership (ICDP). Secondarily, there was some development internal to Harvard, but the Partnership made a decision to focus on conceptual and pedagogical development instead of expansion over the course of the year. As such, I will detail the conceptual and pedagogical growth of the program afforded by my participation in the National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement by focusing on three foundational understandings that shape the ICDP: 1.
Democracy requires on-going work and investment.
2. Civil disagreement is a core democratic practice. 3. Civil disagreement begins with dialogue; a dialogic approach provides needed structures and practices for civil disagreement. What is presented here are the nascent pieces of a handbook for the ICDP. I first define each of the above three foundational understandings. I then detail the pedagogical approach we developed over the course of this year. The report concludes with some pedagogical tools included as appendices. Profound thanks are due to my fellow ICDP collaborators: Alysha Banerji, Collin Anthony Chen, Maya Cohen, and Ryan Fergon. Their fingerprints are all over this report, from the development of the foundational understandings to the appendix of pedagogical tools. Our work proves the ICDP belief that people working together are capable of more than any single individual.
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