IU Kokomo, IU South Bend launch democracy events

Editor’s note: Our thanks to IU Kokomo’s Mary Ellen Stephenson and IU South Bend’s Kathy Borlik. Other events at IU Kokomo may be accessed online:
http://www.iuk.edu/EXTERNAL-RELATIONS/ocm/news/sep04/20040909003.html
and events at IU South Bend may be accessed at the new campus ADP Web site:
http://ee.iusb.edu/index.php?/adp/

Excerpts from IU South Bend’s “One Book, One Campus” reading project may be accessed at Amazon.com at this Web site.

IU Kokomo and IU South Bend have launched programming this fall for IU’s American Democracy Project (ADP), an initiative that seeks to create an intellectual and experiential understanding of civic engagement for undergraduates enrolled at institutions that are members of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.

Two candidate forums, six presentations on U.S. political and social issues, and an exhibit of presidential campaign memorabilia are putting the democratic process front and center at IU Kokomo. Presented under the series title, “Building Character, Building Community,” the activities are coordinated by IU Kokomo students, faculty and staff. More than 150 U.S. college campuses, including all eight IU campuses, are participating in ADP. The project aims at encouraging undergraduates to explore civic activities vital to the life of a democracy, such as voting, volunteerism and advocacy of social justice.

“ADP is not about campaigning for one political viewpoint or another,” said Aimee Sadler, coordinator of programming and applied learning at IU Kokomo. “We want to institutionalize how a university introduces democratic principles and civic engagement, so students can knowledgeably make up their own minds. We’re bringing in speakers who will work with our students to build fact-gathering and organizational skills that students need both as professionals and as responsible citizens. That’s value-added education.”

The “Building Character, Building Community” events tie directly to many IU Kokomo classes, such as the methods course for future social studies teachers taught by Margo Sorgman, professor of education. “These events show ways of becoming conscious of national issues and how to present them as teachers,” said Sorgman.

“There are multiple points of entry for faculty to make ties to class content,” said Todd Bradley, assistant professor of political science, who co-chairs the campus’ ADP committee with Sadler.

Robert Schmuhl, professor of American studies and director of the Gallivan Program in Journalism, Ethics and Democracy at the University of Notre Dame, spoke Sept. 22 on “The Splendid Misery of the American Presidency.” Historian Carlos Cortés, an emeritus professor at the University of California-Riverside, is scheduled to speak Oct. 19 on the topic: “How the Media Teaches About Diversity.” He has written and spoken widely on the growth of the multicultural education movement in the United States from the 1960s to the present. Cortés has consulted on the issue with government agencies, school systems and media outlets, including Nickelodeon’s cartoon series Dora the Explorer. Weekday guests to campus who do not have an IU Kokomo parking pass are asked to park in the lower level of the parking garage, located on the south end of campus. Parking is free.

For more information on the Kokomo programming, contact Sadler at 765-455-9203, E-mail aesadler@iuk.edu, or Todd Bradley at 765-455-9538, E-mail mtbradle@iuk.edu.

Oct. 1-Nov. 7
Buttons, Banners, and Balloons: America Goes to the Polls, IU Kokomo Art Gallery.

Nov. 19
The Great American Sleepout
IU Kokomo hosts a city-wide event to raise awareness of and advocacy for the homeless.

IU South Bend is focusing on civic engagement and democracy with a series of lectures, discussions, radio commentaries on WVPE 88.1 FM, candidate visits, voter registration opportunities and a Web site dedicated to debate and daily events.

The IU South Bend version of the ADP is linked to another campus-wide project, “One Book, One Campus,” sponsored by the Franklin D. Schurz Library. The topic for the year will be media and democracy.

“One Book, One Campus” encourages students, faculty and staff to read the same book and participate in discussions centered on War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, by news correspondent Chris Hedges. Hedges covered El Salvador, Kosovo and the Persian Gulf War. He worked at the Dallas Morning News, the Christian Science Monitor and National Public Radio. He joined the New York Times in 1990 and was a member of the Times staff that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2002 for coverage of global terrorism.

As part of ADP, the NPR affiliate WVPE 88.1 FM and IU South Bend have teamed up for a series of commentaries on the election and civic duty. The series opened Sept. 7 with a discussion between Elizabeth Bennion, campus director of ADP, and Beth Graham, WVPE news director.

The series will continue at 7:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. each Tuesday through the election. Graham said she hopes that the commentaries will include pieces from students and community members as well as faculty.

The first campus event on Sept. 14 focused on the ways that students, faculty and staff can be involved in the year-long ADP and “One Book, One Campus” programs.

“One Book, One Campus” has invited Fred Dodd, assistant managing editor/production of the South Bend Tribune, to speak at 7 p.m. Oct. 19 at the fifth-floor atrium of the Schurz Library. Dodd was an embedded reporter in Iraq at the beginning of the war with the 766th Transportation Battalion and the 428th Military Police Company. Dodd will share his opinions on Hedges’ book.

http://www.americandemocracy.iu.edu/index.php

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