Creating Space for Democracy: A Primer on Dialogue and Deliberation in Higher Education

Published in Association with   and

We live in divisive and polarizing times, often remaining in comfortable social bubbles and experiencing few genuine interactions with people who are different or with whom we disagree. Stepping out and turning to one another is difficult but necessary. For our democracy to thrive at a time when we face wicked problems that involve tough trade-offs it is vital that all citizens participate fully in the process. We need to learn to listen, think, and act with others to solve public problems. This collaborative task begins with creating space for democracy. This book provides a guide for doing so on campus through deliberation and dialogue.

At the most basic level, this book describes collaborative and relational work to engage with others and co-create meaning. Specifically, dialogue and deliberation are processes in which a diverse group of people moves toward making a collective decision on a difficult public issue.

This primer offers a blueprint for achieving the civic mission of higher education by incorporating dialogue and deliberation into learning at colleges and universities. It opens by providing a conceptual framework, with leading voices in the dialogue and deliberation field providing insights on issues pertinent to college campuses, from free speech and academic freedom to neutrality and the role of deliberation in civic engagement. Subsequent sections describe a diverse range of methods and approaches used by several organizations that pioneered and sustained deliberative practices; outline some of the many ways in which educators and institutions are using dialogue and deliberation in curricular, co-curricular, and community spaces, including venues such as student centers, academic libraries, and residence halls. All of the chapters, including a Resource Section, provide readers with a starting point for conceptualizing and implementing their own deliberation and dialogue initiatives.

This book, intended for all educators who are concerned about democracy, imparts the power and impact of public talk, offers the insights and experiences of leading practitioners, and provides the grounding to adopt or adapt the models in their own settings to create educative spaces and experiences that are humanizing, authentic, and productive. It is an important resource for campus leaders, student affairs practitioners, librarians, and centers of institutional diversity, community engagement, teaching excellence and service-learning, as well as faculty, particularly those in the fields of communication studies, education, and political science.

Click here for more information on AAC&U and Campus Compact.

Timothy J. Shaffer is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies and assistant director of the Institute for Civic Discourse and Democracy at Kansas State University. He is also principal research specialist with the National Institute for Civil Discourse at the University of Arizona. 

In addition to Creating Space for Democracy, his publications include Deliberative Pedagogy: Teaching and Learning for Democratic Engagement (Michigan State University Press, 2017), Jumping in to Civic Life: Stories of Public Work from Extension Professionals (Kettering Foundation Press, 2018), and A Crisis of Civility?: Political Discourse and Its Discontents (Routledge, 2019). He has published dozens of articles and book chapters on civic engagement, civic studies, public deliberation, higher education, and democratic professionalism. 

He lives in Manhattan, Kansas, with his wife, Ellen, and his four children.

Nicholas V. Longo is professor of Global Studies and Public and Community Service Studies at Providence College. Nick is author of Why Community Matters: Connecting Education with Civic Life (SUNY Press), co-editor of From Command to Community: A New Approach to Leadership Education in Colleges and Universities (Tufts University Press), and co-editor of Creating Space for Democracy: A Primer on Dialogue and Deliberation in HigherEducation (Stylus, 2019).

Nick lives in Providence, Rhode Island, with his wife, Aleida. Together, they have a great passion for educating the next generation of democratic citizens, starting with their children, Maya and Noah.