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Newsletter - December 2009 - Volume 4, Issue 2

IN THISISSUE

Institute for civic discourse and democracyInstitute for Civic Discourse

and Democracy

Citizen deliberation on issues that matter

Past Participant of Facilitation Workshop Uses Experience in Present Situations

Fall Forums Eisenhower Library Partnership Thrives

Faculty SpotlightTim Steffensmeier

Research Associate for ICDD

By Alexa Hodes

Originally from Wichita, Kan., Thea Nietfeld made her move to Manhattan in January 2009. Prior to joining the Manhattan community, she attended Michigan State University and studied labor relations. Then, she moved on to Wesley Seminary in Washington, D.C., in 1993 and was ordained a Unitarian Universalist (UU) minister. Nietfeld served three congregations before coming to Manhattan and is now serving the Salina UU Fellowship and is affiliated as a community minister with the Manhattan UU Fellowship. “I learned about ICDD from a friend in Kansas City and before I came, I enrolled in the January training program because facilitating civil public discourse is the kind of work that interests me and I believe transforms us as individuals and as a society,” explains Nietfeld. After attending the 2009 ICDD facilitation workshop at K-State, Nietfeld felt that it was well designed and enjoyed the fact that each attendee got to facilitate a

real group at the end. “It was fun!” she says. “In my work as an adjunct instructor in leadership studies, I am able to put the skills I learned at the workshop to use. I’ve been applying what I learned about groups. I became more alert to the subtle differences in points of view, which enhances curiosity,” says Nietfeld. Since January 2009, she has had opportunities to conduct her own facilitation practices. Nietfeld has worked with groups at the UU fellowship and with community groups. “The workshop helped me with these projects because it reminded me that there is a system of thinking and inviting conversation that tends to be more effective. Facilitation is not all smiling and nodding. While friendliness helps, having an inner plan and trying to guide the group toward an agreed-upon goal enables all participants to feel their contributions are worth while,” says Nietfeld.

When asked why the facilitation workshop was beneficial, Nietfeld explained, “As a citizen who cares about health care, economic and military issues, I enjoy civil conversations with a range of perspectives involved. It’s intellectually provocative to try to follow someone else’s way of thinking and be able to ask clarifying questions. Then it’s also my responsibility to say my view in a way that is most understandable to listeners. ICDD’s work enables collective problem-solving to happen on public issues, and I’m glad I had the chance participate in the workshop and to stay involved with ICDD.” Participants have said that the workshop provides valuable tools to help guide group conversations on tough political and social issues.

For more information or details on how to register, please visit: www.k-state.edu/icdd.

Images on page 4.

Partnership With Eisenhower Presidential Library Thrives With Three Fall Forums

The Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum and Kansas State University’s Institute for Civic Discourse and Democracy have partnered to host a series of three National Issues Forum events this fall. These forums are part of the Kansas Town Hall (KTH), a project dedicated to creating programs that encourage citizens to engage in and learn more about issues facing Americans today. A major goal of KTH is to enhance civic literacy. It is rooted in the simple notion that people need to come together to reason and talk. KTH developed out of a partnership between the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum and ICDD, and since then, the program has added additional media partners. The program aims to position the library and museum as the public square, and was inspired, at least partly, by a quotation from President Eisenhower. On September 30, 1960, he said, “Citizenship is not a mere matter of expressing our pride in our traditions….citizenship is the carrying forward of the ideals on which nations based on freedom are maintained and sustained.”

This year’s forum series included:

“Preparing Today’s Kids for Tomorrow’s Jobs: What Can Our Community Do?”Tuesday, September 29

Approximately 25 people attended the first event, including a state legislator, K-State students,

an AmeriCorps VISTA and other educators and community members. Tim Steffensmeier, ICDD Associate and K-State faculty member, served as the lead moderator, and three other ICDD Associates, including two students, served as table facilitators in order to create smaller discussion groups. Aly Rodee, a participant attending her first NIF forum said, “It was great to interact through dialog with community members on an important topic and to leave the forum knowing that there’s something that I could do as an individual, even through discussion.”

”Coping with the Cost of Health Care: How Do We Pay for What We Need?”

Wednesday, November 4 This forum was part of follow-up research to last year’s health care forum. Two graduate students at K-State are examining how, if at all, the negative discourse surrounding health care on the national level has influenced citizens’ thinking about this topic. Approximately 25 people participated in the deliberation, including the director of the Abilene Hospital Foundation, the director of the Abilene city public library, a former city commissioner, a retired minister, a retired teacher and college students. When the forum started, library staff distributed copies of a letter from President Eisenhower dated December 27, 1954. The letter

By Erika Mason-Imbody

ICDD intern, Rachel Richardson participates in a discussion in Abilene.

Workshop attendees discuss the importance of a new health care system.

was written to Oveta Cult Hobby, the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, and in it, President Eisenhower talked about his concerns with 25 million people “who cannot afford health insurance.” The forum participants talked about what incredible history this issue has in our country. There were three table moderators, including Tim Rives, a staff member at the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, who was facilitating his first forum. Linda Smith, archives specialist at the library said, “It was a smaller group, but it was one of the most engaged groups we’ve had.”

“Economic Security: How Can We Take Charge of Our Future?”Tuesday, November 17

The final forum in this year’s series served as a pilot test for a new issue book being developed by the National Issues Forums Institute, and Kansas Town Hall participants were among the first in the country to deliberate on this important issue. Tony Wharton, the author of the issue guide, was able to fly in to attend and observe the deliberation and hear feedback from participants about the shaping of this issue. There were approximately 30 participants in three table groups who deliberated on the draft version of this issue guide. Some questions that participants considered include: * what does it mean to have personal economic security?

* how do our personal actions impact the larger economy?

* how do we define prosperity?

* what actions can we take (individually and as communities) to ensure economic security?

Additionally, Rebecca Zepick from the newly launched web site www.stateofthestateks.com attended and interviewed moderators and participants. A link to the final video can be found at: www.k-state.edu/icdd. At all three events, one of the KTH media partners, Eagle Communications, filmed one of the individual table group discussions, and these films will be produced into a series of community deliberations that will air on their cable networks throughout western Kansas and eastern Colorado, as well as on their web site. Both organizations feel that this series of forums was successful – we tackled tough, important issues, and provided a vital space for community members to talk about these issues. We look forward to the continued programs of the Kansas Town Hall.

Participants engage in a discussion about their economic security.

See you in 2010.

Happy Holidays!

Steffensmeier Engages in Civic LeadershipBy Alexa Hodes

Tim Steffensmeier received his bachelor’s degree from Hastings College in communication systems and marketing. He continued to Wake Forest University to obtain a master’s degree in communication. Finally, he attended University of Texas at Austin to collect a Ph.D. in communication studies. Today, Steffensmeier is an assistant professor of communication studies at K-State. Steffensmeier teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in rhetoric and communication. This includes courses on deliberation and civic leadership, which contribute to the leadership studies program. In conjunction with the Interactivity Foundation, he developed an undergraduate course, “Communication

and Democracy.” He also serves as a research associate with the Institute for Civic Discourse and Democracy (ICDD). Steffensmeier currently is researching and practicing with Public Square Communities, LLC by exploring the role of deliberation in community development. Steffensmeier recently began working with a Legislative Health Academy project that is sponsored by the Kansas Health Institute. The Academy takes a small group of legislators through a year-long process that equips them with health information and processes to make progress on this issue. He is helping with the civic leadership aspect of this project. “My connection to ICDD has provided access to a network of scholars and practitioners that led to these projects,” says Steffensmeier. Academic research is being connected to these projects as well. “We are involved in a book project on Public Square Communities. Also, we are convening a group of deliberation scholars around a collaborative research project between practitioners and researchers,” explains Steffensmeier. According to K-State’s Communication Studies web site, Steffensmeier consults with communities, businesses and political organizations regarding presentational skills, message framing and leadership dynamics. In times of leisure, he enjoys learning how to patch-up homes and grow grapes. He resides in Manhattan with his wife and two children.

Dr. Tim Steffensmeier, assistant professor of communication studies at K-State and research

associate with ICDD

Left: Thea Nietfeld, community member and facilitation workshop attendee

Right: Nietfeld participates in the January 2009 Facilitation

Workshop.

Images of Thea Nietfeld

Staff Involvement

David Procter, ICDD director, partnered with Kim Barbieri of the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum and Kahlil Chism of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum to host a workshop in Atlanta, Georgia, called “Your Classroom: A Civics Laboratory for the 21st Century.” The workshop was part of the National Council for the Social Studies annual conference, and it taught facilitation skills to social studies teachers, school administrators and non-profit staff. Topics for the training included: “The Imperative for Teaching Public Discourse and Deliberation,” and “Steps for Successfully Introducing Controversial Public Issues in the Classroom.” There were 30 participants who engaged with trainers to explore ways of incorporating facilitated discussions into classrooms.

Erika Mason-Imbody, ICDD Project Coordinator, presented at a university-wide colloquium, “Engaging Health, Changing Lives,” on October 29. The colloquium was sponsored by K-State’s Center for Engagement and Community Development. Erika’s presentation contrasted the negative political discussion on health care reform captured by the media with that of ICDD-sponsored public deliberations. The National Issues Forum model involves not just talking or discussing opinions on the subject, but includes choice work discussing the trade-offs of making change and whether those trade-offs are acceptable to the public.

ICDD Director David Procter and ICDD Facilitation Associates Dan Kahl and Charlie Griffin facilitated a public forum on Saturday, October 3, to gather feedback and ideas from Kansas citizens on the Missouri River Ecosystem Restoration Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (MRERP EIS) in Atchison, Kansas. Once completed, the MRERP will result in a policy/programmatic-level plan that will determine and describe priorities and criteria for projects that address mitigation, recovery and restoration of the Missouri River.

More information can be found at www.mrerp.org.

Contact us at:

Institute for Civic Discourse & Democracy

202 Ahearn Field HouseKansas State UniversityManhattan, KS 66506-0307

Phone: 785.532.7252, Fax: 785.532.6808E-mail: icdd@k-state.eduWeb: www.k-state.edu/icdd

MissionThe Institute for Civic Discourse and Democracy is committed to improving public deliberation locally, nationally and internationally by engaging in scholarship, education, facilitation and outreach.

VisionStronger democracy through enhanced public deliberation.

ICDD Mission & Vision

Promoting Civic Dialogue

Workshop highlights- How to set up public forums- The role of the facilitator- Facilitation values- Best practices for facilitators- Assessing public issue forums- Participation in different forms of public conversation- Practice/coaching sessions for individual facilitation skills

*For more information:www.K-State.edu/ICDD

Who Should Attend?The ICDD Facilitation Workshop targets those individuals interested in gaining the skills for successful facilitation. This workshop would be beneficial to:

- Municipal, county and state officials- Educators and administrators- Non-profit leaders- Community and economic development professionals- Extension professionals- Community activists- Faculty and Students