July 18-20, 2013, Medford, MA

Conference Framing and Session Formats

Both in the US and around the world we find ourselves in a dramatic period of civic awakening. We know this work and ideas under different names: public engagement, deliberative and participatory democracy, collaborative governance, educating for democracy and civic learning, public work, building social capital, and strengthening democracy. We promote it using diverse means; we think about it in diverse ways.

With a civic awakening all around us, in US, in the Arab world, in Russia and Burma, in India, Greece, Spain and Hungary, in many countries in Africa and Latin America, it is a good time to rethink what we have been doing and to formulate how it fits into and contributes to this larger effort. At this year’s Frontiers of Democracy conference, we considered a wide picture of work and ideas that support and promote civic vitality.

Frontiers of Democracy is sponsored by the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University, the Democracy Imperative, and the Deliberative Democracy Consortium.

You can register for the conference here. If you just want to add your name to the “Frontiers” email list for very occasional updates, you may enter your information here.

This year, the Center for Engaged Democracy is joining with Frontiers to offer its fourth annual conference on the Future of Community Engagement in Higher Education – from 5:00 pm on Wednesday, July 17 to 4:00 pm on Thursday, July 18, immediately prior to the start of Frontiers of Democracy. We encourage attendees to take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about developing academic programs focused on civic engagement, Core Competencies in Civic Engagement, and on-line civic engagement.  To learn more about and see the agenda for The Future of Community Engagement in Higher Education, click here.

Members of the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation are invited to join NCDD’s director and several Board members for an informal afternoon meet-up on Thursday, July 18, from 1:00 to 4:00 pm, also immediately before Frontiers begins.  Network, talk about the New England region’s most exciting D&D projects, and explore what is and can be done to strengthen the region’s civic infrastructure.  To register, please visit this page.

In this 4th year of the Frontiers of Democracy conference, we have once again worked to design a program responsive to the times and to the interests of participants. This year’s conference offers four kinds of sessions:

• Learning Exchanges in Civic Practices (plenary & concurrent sessions, 8 am – 4 pm, Friday, July 19):

Multiple plenary and concurrent sessions intended for both academics and practitioners

Democratic and interactive discussions, rather than traditional academic panels, on topics likely to move the needle on civic renewal. For learning exchanges, the assumption is that everyone has valuable experiences and knowledge to share, and the sessions are designed to shift from the descriptive to the strategic.

• Mini-Conference in Civic Studies (8 am – 4 pm, Friday, July 19)

One day-long, academic-style conference

Panels in a more traditional academic format, but with a focus on debates of key issues, not the reading of academic papers.

• Short Takes (four sets – on each day of Frontiers)

Provocative, 10-minute presentations by invited speakers, some live and some via videos pre-recorded for this event. The speakers’ topics will be diverse. Instead of following their presentations with Q&A and plenary discussion, we will go directly into small-group conversations that will be generally inspired by the speakers but not limited to their remarks.

• Open Space (Saturday, July 20):

Throughout the conference, we ask participants to be thinking about topics that you would like to learn more about, areas of interest that call for more discussion, and strategic alliances and working groups.  On Saturday, participants can convene a group.  Watch for sign-up sheets located in the main rooms of the conference.