Previous Event
October 14, 2007
"September 23, 2007
"A More Genuine Democracy - Teaching Political Literacy to Rejuvenate America"
by Jeffrey Nielsen "
Professor Jeffrey Nielsen is a philosopher educated at Weber State University and Boston College. Currently he is an adjunct professor in the philosophy departments of both Westminster College and Utah Valley State College focusing on issues in ethics, moral decision-making, and democracy. Jeff also consults with organizations around the world on management issues and assists organizations in developing peer-based managing, moral decision-making, and ethical problem solving models. Professor Nielsen has traveled internationally training with many of the Fortune 500 companies. Jeff is also a frequent guest on Public Radio discussing leadership, ethics, and public policy issues.
His most recent initiative has been to found the nonprofit Democracy House Project. The Democracy House Project is an educational initiative using his peer-based model to teach political literacy in communities, adult education programs, and schools in order to recreate and rejuvenate democracy one person, one household, and one issue at a time. The Democracy House Projects also assists local governments in organizing and training citizen councils to serve as audit and advisory bodies on public policy issues.
"My hope will be to enlist your help in creating a more genuine democracy. And I want to help you by sharing with you what I like to call political literacy, the teaching of which is the main mission of the Democracy House Project [www.democracyhouseproject.org]. As we learn and practice the competencies of dialogue and deliberation–discussing topics central to understanding democracy and the ideals of a just, democratic society–we can create a more participatory democracy. We will discuss how we can be more engaged in more authentic conversation and dialogue in our homes, neighborhoods, community associations, places of work and worship. Together we can recreate democracy and democratic citizenship."