Students plan to practice democratic deliberation at immigration issues forum
On Saturday February 19th, Indiana University Bloomington students from across campus will come together to discuss their perspectives on immigration policy in the United States in an Issues Forum hosted by the Political and Civic Engagement (PACE) program.
The forum aims to provide students with practical experience in community decision-making. An expert panel, a variety of monologues, small group dialogue and large group deliberation will all be on the agenda for the Saturday event, which will last from 10 am to 5 pm in Woodburn Hall.
Panel participants are: Lynn Duggan, IU Labor Studies faculty; Maria Lillian Casillas of El Centro Comunal Latino; and Robert Schrameyer of Goshen, IN, Director of Citizens for Immigration Law Enforcement.
Student facilitators from the PACE program will serve as small-group leaders as they attempt to coach the group toward expressing their views, exploring their differences, and finding common ground and values on immigration issues. Students selected the topic of immigration from a number of controversial issues for this year’s second annual PACE Issues Forum; last year, the student-selected topic was health care.
All interested IU students are welcome to participate in this year’s forum. Students may also elect to receive one credit for the experience as PACE-C400; interested students should add the class before Feb. 7th in order to receive the pre-forum assignment. All students are encouraged to RSVP to pace@indiana.edu so that sufficient lunch and snacks will be available.
