September 14, 2011 Meeting Notes

Meeting 1: September 14, 5:30 p.m., CUE 420
Present Members: Esti, Lior, Jordan, Cindy, Daniel, Carl, Andrew and Jared
Yet to Meet: Faizan, Emilie, and Jason

For those who weren't able to make it, here are links to a couple videos we watched:

• Introducing UConn President Susan Herbst: http://today.uconn.edu/blog/2011/09/introducing-uconn-president-susan-herbst/
• Susan Herbst Talks Civility with CSPC's Presidential Fellows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NW06J-jtXI&feature=youtu.be

And here is a link to an article by Dr. Herbst that I highly recommend you take a minute to read:

• The Climate is in Your Head: http://today.uconn.edu/school-of-thought/2011/09/12/the-climate-is-in-your-head/ 
• If you would like a copy, please come by my office in Buckley to pick one up.

Here is the reading schedule we agreed to as a group. I made a slight error in the number of chapters so you will be left to read Chapter 4 and 5 over winter break, though the conclusion (Chapter 5) is short. I have written this based on when we will probably meet and what chapter I would like you to have completed by that meeting time (just like a syllabus :)).

• October 18, time TBD: Chapter 1 "The Powerful - if Elusive - Nature of Civility"
• Approximately mid-November: Chapter 2 "Sarah Palin and Her Publics"
• Final week of Classes (early December): Chapter 3 "Barack Obama, Difference, and Civility"
• After Winter Break: Chapter 4 "Our Future Leaders: College Students and Political Argument" and Chapter 5 "Conclusion: Civility, Communication, and a Culture of Argument"

We will meet sometime in the beginning of spring semester to discuss the final chapters, as well as our meeting with Dr. Herbst.

I will contact those who were not at our meeting to determine a time for our October 18th meeting. As of right now it will occur sometime after 5:00 p.m.

Once you are made an author to this blog, I only ask that you follow a few rules:

• Please be CIVIL and RESPECTFUL of each other. Read "Rude Democracy" for a definition of civility ;)
• Try and stick to topics relevant to our book and discussions - if you have a personal business selling lawn mowers or any otherwise highly unrelated subject to share, please do so via your personal social media sites.
• Please do not post anything profane, offensive, or that could be hurtful to someone in our group or in our community at large (global community, that is).
• I will be monitoring this blog and reserve the right to delete anything that doesn't follow these guidelines and remove the author's ability to post.

I do however encourage you all to be bold and discuss the difficult topics. This is the group for having the conversations that you may otherwise not have an opportunity to hold or may not feel comfortable holding.

I also encourage you all to lay some ground rules, too. Dr. Herbst talks about how to construct an argument appropriately in her book (see P. 135). If you want to come up with some of your own guidelines for this blog, please write a post about it!

Finally, here are some of the reasons our members joined this club: interests in health care policy and reform and the related debates, interest in the complexities of government, the current political climate following the debt crisis debate and the associated wrangling that may or may not have been civil, and generally an interest in government and politics that lies beyond what one may be majoring in right now.

So let's make sure we hit upon those topics and more as we embark on this collective, intellectual journey.

-Devin