Tackling Wicked Problems through Deliberative Engagement: How to Elevate our Community and Classroom Conversations in Hyper-Partisan Times

The Center for Faculty Excellence and the Program for Public Discourse are excited to present a new workshop series aimed at engaging with “Wicked Issues” in the classroom. Wicked issues, or wicked problems, are characterized by their complexity, their lack of clear solutions, and their tendency to place our highest values in competition with each other. Our three-part virtual series will begin with guest speaker Dr. Martín Carcasson discussing how to use a wicked-issues mindset to add nuance to our classroom conversations. In the second session, Dr. Kevin Marinelli (PPD) and Dr. Emily Boehm (CFE) will use this framework to examine the tension between inclusivity and free speech, especially on college classrooms. In the last session, we will encourage participants to identify the wicked issues that arise in their own courses and strategize about how to facilitate productive student dialogue. While we recommend participating in the entire series, we will provide online resources for those who cannot attend all three sessions.

Participants of Session One will be able to:

• Utilize a wicked problems mindset to reframe issues
• Understand how value arguments can undermine or elevate conversations depending on their use
• Identify positive and negative aspects of human nature and their impact on our ability to address shared issues
• Understand the basic components of deliberative engagement
• Develop classroom assignments and activities that build deliberative skills

Register for this event here