[Libs-Or] Winter programs- NEW! and continuing Civics for Adults workshops

[Donna Cohen]

Winter 2016 Programming 

Civics for Adults Community Workshops: 

Enhancing Civic Knowledge / Inspiring Political Engagement

 

Our democracy is strengthened when citizens have accurate knowledge.

"Donna brought a balanced, informed set of discussion points and
fact-checking sources on voting, taxes, citizenship, and other topics that
sometime turn politics from polite conversation to heated argument.
Attendees left feeling that they had enjoyed a robust and meaningful dialog
on important issues."  Sarah Jesudason, Librarian 

 

NEW! Being a "Citizen Lobbyist" - Advocating for your community, state and
nation.

"Lobbyist" is a word that usually conjures up negative images and feelings.
But efforts by citizens to influence government to improve the "commonweal"
- the common good - are just another form of lobbying. We will cover
different methods, including both those within "the system" and outside of
it. Participants will learn how to quickly find information on public
officials, how to find state and federal legislation and how to keep track
of bills, the means for letting government officials know what you think -
including public committees, providing testimony on legislation and speaking
at public hearings-, grassroots options for community involvement, and more.
Many people complain; far fewer actually advocate for positive change.
Sometimes all it takes to transform one into the other is for people to
learn more about what community advocacy encompasses.

Workshop includes real life examples from facilitator's recent successful
advocacy experiences.

 

Misinformation and Political Propaganda

We are overwhelmed with messages from politicians, news sources and other
media. Learn to distinguish truth from fiction using critical thinking
strategies. The workshop uses real world examples of political ads, news
headlines, logical fallacies, graphs / charts, the effect of word choice in
messaging, statistical data and other types of information in a "what do you
see here? / what is missing?" type of format. 

The last part is about finding accurate information. The goal is to help
people become their own "factchecker". 

 "Useful info for using library databanks to search for pertinent
information. Really enjoyed the workshop"

"It was nice to talk about poll sources and look at information in context."

"It's good to question assertions of any kind, especially timely in this
election year. I liked Donna's 

examples of real ads and how we need to be mentally vigilant." 

 

 

The Influence of the Constitution on Political Conversation

By looking back at the creation of the Constitution we puncture some myths
and develop a broader perspective on its significance - perspective that
helps us evaluate current political events more thoughtfully. The goal is to
help people appreciate that at times a person's [especially a politician's]
explanation about the Constitution may be manipulative rather than truly
informative.

              "Amazing what was done [the creation of the Constitution] and
what issues still remain."

"Every citizen should take this serious look at our Constitution." 

"Good level of history and contemporary political ideas, their evolution and
relevance to today."

 

Beyond Voting: Elections and Campaign Finance

This is a unique workshop covering 20 topics related to our electoral
systems and presenting specific ideas for bi-partisan civic/political
engagement. Covering:

 

Voting as Constitutional right, Voter Rights, Voter Fraud, Voter
Registration, Voter Turnout, Felon voting, Instant Runoff Elections,
Redistricting, Superdelegates, Electoral College, National Popular Vote,
Campaign Financing, SuperPACS and 501(c)4s, Contribution Limits, Dark Money,
Disclosure, Elected Officials Time Spent Fundraising, Public attitudes about
Money in Politics, Oregon's Campaign Finance Database, Public Financing of
Elections

               "Thanks for all the great information. It was empowering." 

"I consider myself a well-informed citizen but I learned a great deal of new
information. ... got an urge to be more engaged in civic activity." 

"I came because I feel in this election year what the media is reporting is
very different from what is happening. I feel like our voices do not have
the power they once had and want to find out how we can remedy this. This
talk was very informational and gave me some ideas of how to make a
difference starting locally." 

"Thanks so much for this interesting and engaging workshop on civics." 

 

Donna

 

Donna L Cohen, MEd, MLIS

Portland, Oregon

503-737-1425

citizen at civicthinker.net

Civics for Adults Workshop Series: To Enhance Civic Knowledge and Inspire
Political Engagement

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Civics-for-Adults-1490728887922036/

 

 

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