From public art and cultural policy to classroom-ready civic learning, this year’s Conference on Civic Studies & Democracy brings local, national, and international voices and hands-on sessions to campus. We want faculty, staff, and students to join us.
Please invite your classes, share widely, and register today.
National Speakers with Classroom Relevance
- Thursday Fred Meyer Lecture: Michael Greer — President & CEO of ArtsFund, a cross-sector arts leader advancing community cohesion through culture.
- Friday Keynote (Lunch): Trygve Throntveit, PhD — architect of Third Way Civics, a nationally adopted civic-learning initiative grounded in William James’s pragmatism and active, student-centered pedagogy.
Bridge to National Partners
Sessions connect with the Jack Miller Center (higher-ed & K–12 civics programs, national convening) and Sphere Education Initiatives (nonpartisan, viewpoint-diverse PD and classroom resources for grades 5–12).
Program Highlights
- Thu, Sept 25 (5–8pm, L.A. Pittenger Student Center Ballroom)
- Opening Reception
- Welcome & Remarks: President Geoffrey S. Mearns
- Michael Greer (ArtsFund): “Arts and Culture as Community Cohesion: The Power of the Sector Beyond the Stage and Studio”
- Awards Ceremony honoring civic-arts and community leaders (excellent case studies for civic engagement, journalism, arts administration)
- Fri, Sept 26 (9am–4pm, L.A. Pittenger Student Center)
- Concurrent Sessions: oncurrent Sessions (9am–12pm):
Civic murals (Italy–U.S.) • Media & community identity • School choice & civic virtue • Middletown & everyday politics • Public media & sense of place • Civic virtues in the classroom • Rural storytelling - Featured Talk: Luciano Cheles (Italy) — “Civic Murals in America, 1910–1940: The Italian Connection” — how U.S. civic murals drew on Renaissance models to advance democratic, didactic art in public buildings.
- Lunchtime Keynote: Trygve Throntveit — “What Does ‘Civics’ Mean? William James and the Civic Renewal of Contemporary American Education” (12-1pm)
- Concurrent Sessions: media & community identity; lateral reading + AI for misinformation; civic virtues in the classroom; opera & public voice; rural storytelling; land use & civic participation, and more (1-4pm)
- Sat, Sept 27 (9am–1pm, L.A. Pittenger Student Center)
- Creative Cartography with Melissa Gentry
- Whitely-Opoly civic game lab, Jörn Seemann, Frank Scott Sr. and Ashaki Goodall
- Beyond Civics Lessons to Understanding and Community: Essentials for a Democratic Life
Linda Hanson (League of Women Voters),
Register Here