DCI Programs
The Deliberative Citizenship Initiative main programs are designed to complement and reinforce each other as they serve different functions and audiences.
DCI Fellows Program
The core of the DCI is its Fellows Program. Each year, a cohort of Davidson students are selected and paid to serve as DCI Fellows and play leadership roles in the initiative. These fellows are trained in deliberation facilitation skills, and they immerse themselves in deliberative theory and methods, help choose the issues for the year鈥檚 focus, facilitate robust deliberations on those issues, and reflect on and document their experiences as sponsors of these discussions.
As facilitators of the DCI鈥檚 small group deliberations, they are essential to the success of the DCI鈥檚 Deliberative 鈥淒鈥 Teams and Deliberative Forums. They also assist with outreach to different audiences, publish reflections about deliberation on the DCI Blog, and they develop their own personal deliberation projects that bring people together on campus and in the community.
Deliberative 鈥淒鈥 Teams
In order to enable participants to get to know each other over time and have the opportunity to engage more deeply with one another on the issues they discuss, the DCI also organizes Deliberative 鈥淒鈥 Teams. These groups bring together small groups of 6-10 students, faculty, staff, alums, and community members, and are guided by the DCI鈥檚 trained facilitators and Deliberation Guides.
These groups meet for two hours several times per semester either online or in-person. D Team topics have included abortion, book censorship, climate change, election reform, immigration, policing, the legacies of slavery, and more.