I have two possible ideas for a DFE proposal at the Charles F. Kettering Foundation in Dayton OH. One is definitely doable from a distance, and the other would at the very least require several trips to Dayton. These ideas are different than from what I presented in class for Texas Forums. I think working with Taylor Willingham on wikis and online deliberation would be wonderful, but I know I am not in a position to do so with my current skill set. I am interested in talking to the Illinois students about their work with Taylor.

SI invites you to a very special event this Friday, November 3 @ 11:20-1pm, in 411 West Hall. We are hosting Pat Gurin (expert witness in the University of Michigan’s defense of its undergraduate and law school admissions policies), and School of Information faculty Mick McQuaid and Bob Frost on a panel discussing the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative in an information context. Please come and ask questions!!! Lunch is provided.

At my last job at the Kettering Foundation, Unchat gave a presentation. This was several years ago, and I'm not sure about the status of this software. Regardless, I thought I would post a link to it as it is related to our Friday discussion on Civic Applications. I found a few organizations using it including MIT. Ben Barber and Beth Noveck were the brains behind this project.

Unchat hopes to provide a chat software program that encourages deliberation. From their web site: "Put to use in civic and political debates, learning and educational development, community building and non-profit communications, corporate meetings and knowledge management, our software will enhance discussion, nurture deliberation and facilitate the arbitration of differences and the quest for common ground."

May 30-31. Details here.

vibrant, action-oriented dialogue among five communities (broadly defined):

1. Cutting edge futurists, innovators, developers, and mediastes
2. Leaders from both core technology and social web tool companies and from venture capital firms
3. Philanthropists
4. Public Interest Technology practitioners and supporters
5. Nonprofits and NGOs- large and small -- from the U.S. and the World - early
   adopting and on the cusp - united by a vibrant interest in
   understanding the potential of the social web and realizing that
   potential to accomplish their missions.

For those of you currently on campus, or those of you with a passion for civil society cognoscenti, I'm providing two links that ought to provide some background on Michael Walzer, author of "The Idea of Civil Society," which will be discussed in lecture this Friday, November 17th, 2005. First is an interview from the UNESCO Courier. It addresses some of Walzer's views on the intersections of race and identity politics with civil society:

http://www.unesco.org/courier/2000_01/uk/dires/txt1.htm

Monday, September 19, 2005
9:30 ? 10:30 a.m., Anderson Room, Michigan Union
Keynote Address: U.S. Senator Carl Levin
? Dean Evan Caminker, Law School - Introduction
“Contemporary Constitutional Crises:
The Patriot Act, the Schiavo Case and the ‘Nuclear Option’”

10:30 ? 11:45 a.m., Anderson Room, Michigan Union
Faculty Panel: “The Constitution in an Age of Terrorism”

International Symposium on Local e-Democracy
Tuesday, July 26 - Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
http://dowire.org/localedem

Sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in the United Kingdom and the UK Local e-Democracy National Project with the help of our conference partners.

The International Symposium is a dynamic one day conference exploring leading e-democracy trends around the world followed with field visits to area government and community e-democracy projects the next day.

International Symposium on Local E-Democracy
July 26-27, 2005 - Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
http://dowire.org/localedem

The International Symposium on Local E-Democracy
is a dynamic conference exploring leading e-democracy
trends around the world. The next day, a field trip
to the "wired" chambers of the Minnesota State
Legislature and Northfield, Minnesota's community

Sent: February 14, 2005 4:44 PM, from Steven Clift via DoWire.org - Democracies Online Newswire [mailto:DO-WIRE@lists.umn.edu]

mySociety.org is one of the world's most dynamic centres of e- democracy innovation. Its associates, both independently and together in a official capacity, are churning out smart e-democracy sites that have the right kind of mojo to turn heads.

Please see the attached write-up from the comments (below) and in-class discussion.