Project Pericles: Recap of NEC’s Democracy Dialog Post-Election Event
Shared with permission from Project Pericles, a national organization committed to civic and social engagement based on knowledge of the principles and history of American democracy. New England College is one of the organization’s 10 founding institutions.聽
Despite being scheduled on a Sunday afternoon (and against a Patriots game!), New England College鈥檚 November 10 post-election event, 鈥淒emocracy Dialog,鈥� attracted a crowd of 75 students and members of the surrounding community eager to discuss their frustrations and hopes for the current political moment. With the help of Professor Nathan Shrader, a Periclean Faculty Leader and the co-director of NEC鈥檚 Center for Civic Engagement, students talked in small groups about intricate issues facing our democracy.
Photo from “Democracy Photo credit: Dr. Nathan Shrader, Associate Professor of Politics at New England College
In describing the event, Professor Shrader explained: 鈥淲e framed our event as a conversation about the future of American democracy rather than as an election post-mortem, which we felt was very beneficial given the uncertainty facing the nation.鈥� Event attendees all received shirts with 鈥淒efenders of Democracy鈥� on the front, and attendees hope to carry this defense of democracy forward through their education.
Dr. Shrader shared that 鈥渢he support we received from Project Pericles was extremely important. I think it also gave us additional credibility by having Project Pericles, League of Women Voters, and Granite Post (a recently founded online news source) on our brochures and digital graphics. It makes a difference when people see that events are supported by numerous credible organizations. It was also very helpful for me to attend the Program Directors Conference at Swarthmore [College] because I learned more about what other faculty members had done in the past with these kinds of programs.鈥�
Photo credit: Dr. Nathan Shrader, Associate Professor of Politics at New England College
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