We were delighted that Professor Philip Benesch brought thirteen of his students from Lebanon Valley College, Annville, PA, to the IF-Newseum Institute event about the future of public discussion. The students joined eleven small group round table discussions that were focused upon identifying concerns that people may have about the future of public discussion and possibilities for addressing them. We hope to publish the results of their discussions later this year.
Several IF Fellows said that it was wonderful to have such thoughtful students actively participating in the discussions. One of the students told me that she especially enjoyed hearing the thoughts of people from different generations sitting around her table. And I agree. We too often find ourselves segregated by age in our educational system and social media.
It was good, in any event, to see that Professor Benesch’s students understand the value of engaging in public policy discussions. Some of them actually are taking a course from Professor Benesch that incorporates IF facilitation techniques to explore public policy possibilities. We look forward to engaging with them in the future.