Institute for Democratic Engagement and Accountability to host series of ‘Ted-like talks’ presented by students?

Grant Lieberman
Wed, 10 Apr 2024 01:50:00 +0000
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IDEA will hold an event titled “Educating (Each Other) for Citizenship” featuring TED-like talks by four political science students on Wednesday at The Faculty Club Grand Lounge. Credit: Courtesy of Emma Wozniak

Ohio State’s motto is “Disciplina in civitatem,” or “Education for Citizenship,” but what exactly does that entail?

Ohio State’s Institute for Democratic Engagement and Accountability, also known as IDEA, is hosting a series of student-run TED-like talks Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. Four students will present, including Sophia Shannon, a third-year in political science; Emma Wozniak, a third-year in political science and journalism; James Logan, a fourth-year in political science, and Beckett Bessinger, a third-year in political science.?

TED talks, the inspiration for the IDEA event, typically feature “Scientists, researchers, technologists, business leaders, artists, designers and other world experts” as they present “ideas worth spreading, such as valuable new knowledge and innovative research in their fields,” according to the TED website.

?Created by Michael Neblo — an Ohio State professor of political science and, by courtesy, philosophy, communication and public policy, as well as director of IDEA — the event looks to answer the question of what it means to be a citizen and to assist in the development of one’s personal conception of citizenship, Neblo said. The talks will take place in the Grand Lounge of The Ohio State University Faculty Club.?

?“The idea came from [former] President Johnson and Provost Gilliam, who wanted to really start to focus on and be intentional about fulfilling OSU’s motto,” Neblo said. “I’m teaching a course right now, and a lot of what we are trying to do is think about what it means to be a citizen. I offer students various enrichment opportunities to pump up their grades, and one of the ideas I came up with was holding an event where we gave TED-like talks.”

According to Neblo, the event will consist of a pre-reception with refreshments followed by the program, which will feature opening remarks from Vice President of Government Affairs Stacy Rastauskas and Divisional Dean of Social and Behavioral Sciences Ryan King. The bulk of the program will be four student presentations, each relating to the overarching theme of citizenship, as well as reflections and an audience Q&A moderated by Neblo.

?“The basic gist is to start taking the conversation about what it means to take OSU’s motto seriously,” Neblo said. “We want to empower students to be part of that rather than passive receivers of the faculty’s wisdom about what an education for citizenship entails.”

?Logan plans to give a talk titled “Something Old, Something New, Something Red, Something Blue.” James said the presentation will focus on two main themes: age and political differences.?

?“It’s no surprise to anybody that older and younger Americans tend to be very polarized as far as political persuasions are concerned,” James said. “Older people tend to overwhelmingly be Republicans, and similarly, younger people tend to be Democrats. The conventional wisdom on this sort of divide seems to suggest that this has been just a natural problem since the beginning of time.”

?Shannon will showcase her presentation, “Turnout for What? From the Ballot Box to the Beat Box,” which argues that informal, nontraditional methods of civic engagement are just as important to a democracy as means such as voting or contacting representatives.

?“I hope that the impact of this project will be to make people more understanding of democratic participants who don’t use the more traditional channels that we often associate with democratic engagement and encourage them to listen to a wider range of voices when considering public opinion,” Shannon said. “Music is and has been powerful in making people listen, and this should not be ignored when we think about how democratic debates occur.”

The event will serve as a means for Neblo’s students to apply what they are learning in the course to the tense, evolving political world beyond the classroom, Neblo said.?

?“For the twenty years I’ve been at OSU, I have always felt that we take the motto seriously and do a good job fulfilling that mission,” Neblo said. “The course on Education for Citizenship [that I teach] emerged because I perceived that changes in American political culture called for extensions of what we were already doing well. I thought we needed to respond to those challenges by helping students practice applying what they were learning in the classroom. That would empower them to rise to the challenge, rather than joining in the ugliness or withdrawing out of disgust.”