DCI Building Democracy event attendees gather at tables in the Lilly Gallery

The Deliberative Citizenship Initiative

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D.G. and Harriet Wall Martin Institute for Public Good
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The Deliberative Citizenship Initiative

Building Democracy, One Conversation at a Time

The Deliberative Citizenship Initiative (DCI) is dedicated to creating opportunities for Davidson students, faculty, staff, and members of the wider community to productively engage with one another on difficult and contentious issues facing our community and society.

Through programming across the Davidson College curriculum, campus, and community, the DCI works to accomplish this mission by teaching deliberative skills, reinforcing humane instincts, building meaningful community, catalyzing creative solutions, and analyzing the deliberative process itself.

DCI and political science department panel at an event in the Lilly Gallery

Events

The DCI hosts a range of different events throughout the academic year to foster a more deliberative culture on campus through public reasoning and good argument.

A table of students at the DCI Building Democracy event

Programs

Programs are designed to complement and reinforce each other as they serve different functions across the curriculum, the campus, and the community.

Prof Graham Bullock leads a group of students in a Wall Center classroom

Training & Courses

Every year the DCI hosts facilitator trainings, and with a faculty cohort, develops courses that include a significant deliberative component.

About the DCI

Led by Faculty Director Graham Bullock and supported by a wide network of councils, student fellows, faculty members, and college leadership, the Deliberative Citizenship Initiative (DCI) at Davidson College empowers students, faculty, staff, and community members to engage with contentious issues through productive discourse.

Meet the Team

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A man in a suit stands at a Davidson College podium on a dimly lit stage, raising a pom-pom in one hand beneath a large projection screen that reads "Martin Institute for Public Good."

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Working Together to Solve Society's Big Problems

Davidson College launched the $47 million D.G. and Harriet Wall Martin Institute for Public Good, aimed to prepare students to solve society's big problems through ethical leadership, public policy research and civil deliberation. Learn how a recent $4 million federal grant is expanding this mission into a national network for constructive dialogue.