Yale Bulletin and Calendar

March 2, 2001

Volume 29, Number 21

Two-Week Issue

Forums explore democracy on local level

Four public forums examining the practice of democracy at the local level will be presented this spring in conjunction with Yale's Tercentennial DeVane Lecture Series "Democratic Vistas."

The forum series -- titled "One Enduring Idea: Four More Perspectives ... and the Local Angle" -- is designed both to complement and expand upon the DeVane Lectures, according to Cynthia Farrar, director of urban academic initiatives in Yale's Office of New Haven and State Affairs, who organized the series.

"The forums will cover topics crucial to the practice of democracy, such as immigration and the media, which are not addressed in the DeVane Lectures," says Farrar. "They will also take a close look at the implications of democratic life and ideals in the community where we live and work." While each of the forums will include "a special focus on New Haven," the discussions "will also be of great interest to those living outside the city's borders," she adds.

Like the DeVane Lectures, the forums are free and open to the public.

The first, "Bowling Together? The Changing Role of Volunteers and the Character of American Democracy," will take place at 1 p.m. on Thursday, March 8, in Rm. 101 of Luce Hall, 34 Hillhouse Ave. The event is cosponsored by The Yale Club of New Haven and Dwight Hall at Yale.

The program will open with a talk by Robert Putnam, author of "Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community." A professor of public policy at Harvard University, Putnam is founder of the Saguaro Seminar: Civic Engagement in America, a program designed to fortify America's civic connectedness. During his stay at Yale, he will also give the Law School's Allen Leff Fellowship Lecture. (See Visiting on Campus, page X.)

The forum will also feature a panel of local activists, including Drema Brown '96 B.A., who was a founding staff member of L.E.A.P. (Leadership, Education and Athletics in Partnership), a pioneering program for inner-city youths, and now teaches at the Amistad Academy, a charter middle school that emphasizes citizenship; Josh Civin '96 B.A., who was a former New Haven alderman and Rhodes Scholar, and is now a student at the Yale Law School; Shelley Geballe '76 J.D., '95 M.P.H., who is a civil rights attorney and lecturer at the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, and is cofounder and coordinator of Connecticut Voices for Children, an advocacy organization; and Anika Singh '01, who is an active member of Dwight Hall and helps lead the Yale Hunger and Homelessness Action Project.

The participants will discuss the current trends in volunteering, including generational differences, and the implications of various forms of civic engagement for equality and other democratic values.

The remaining forums will be: "Reinventing the Melting Pot" on Friday, March 23; "Let Justice Roll Down: Faith and Citizenship in New Haven" on Monday, April 16; and "Is the Press Part of the Public? Local Media and Local Democracy" on Wednesday, April 18.

Watch upcoming issues of the Yale Bulletin & Calendar for up-to-date information about the forums, or check the Yale Tercentennial website at www.yale.edu/yale300/democracy.

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