Reimagining Democracy: Conscientization

Drawing on the praxis of Paolo Freire's pedagogy of the oppressed, Antonia Darder's bicultural development, and Geneva Gay's culturally responsive teaching, students will develop their abilities regarding conscientization, dialogue, and debate in both English and Spanish, as well as other languages of the learning community. Colleges are being called upon to educate students in ways that enable them to engage knowledgeably in vigorous debates, deliberations, and disagreements, while also supporting the rights of others to present their own points of view. An important feature of this undertaking is the responsibility of all participants to respect the rights of opponents to engage in free speech and free debate.As a college Evergreen is responsible to protect such rights and to function as a space for continued learning, even across the most significant of differences. Put differently, as part of their Evergreen education, students must be equipped with sound knowledge that enables them productively to face and engage opposing viewpoints, and to develop new understandings based on such engagement. This is a central challenge of the chaotic world we now have. Meeting this challenge is a necessary part of being able to move toward creating the world we imagine, while simultaneously resisting divisiveness and sustaining and growing the pluralistic democracies we need. With our history of commitment to embrace difference, Evergreen is uniquely positioned to respond to these emergent challenges. We can play a critical role in our response to the urgent need to equip students to understand and face global, national, and local threats to democratic life.

Anticipated Credit Equivalencies:

2 - Communication