 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
What exactly is "Public Talk?"
"Public talk" is public conversation among citizens that helps a neighborhood, an organization, a community -- or even total strangers -- deal with issues that are important to them and their lives. More than simply "talk for talk's sake," it is productive dialogue that lets people take ownership of the conversation, understand one another, and move forward together toward concrete outcomes. Public talk takes place in settings where experts, community leaders, and citizens from all walks of life can come together in an honest, forthright manner, and it encourages every participant to contribute to the conversation, without privileging anyone's ideas or opinions. Most of all, public talk is about the members of a community rolling up their sleeves and doing real work together, despite meaningful differences.
When public talk is taking place, it creates a rich, vibrant dialogue that engages the civic imagination of participants, spurs citizens to collective action, and deepens our appreciation of the complex challenges and creative opportunities for living together in contemporary communities.
The Penn Public Talk Project is working to strengthen an emerging national movement in support of effective public discourse and the growth of strong, inclusive communities across the country and around the world.
As we enter the 21st century, technology, urbanization, mobility, mass communications, and other social forces have created a rapidly evolving civic landscape in which it is easy for citizens and leaders alike to feel frustrated, isolated, and ultimately, alienated from public life. Public talk can play a central role in creating "communities of conversation" that help alleviate these feelings, building a sense of connection and shared public purpose. Although effective programs, formats and techniques exist to facilitate this process of community-building, even experts in the field can find their efforts too isolated and fragmented to have significant impact. The absence of widespread, national public exposure for successful discourse efforts can make it difficult for new participants to know where to begin. Locally and nationally, leaders are often unaware of ways in which they might better facilitate constructive public talk in their communities.
Through local, regional, and national public discourse events, professional conferences, publications, Internet resources, and other activities, the Penn Public Talk Project provides a much-needed resource for citizens, discourse practitioners, community leaders, academic specialists, cultural institutions, and civic organizations. It aims to raise public and institutional awareness about issues of public engagement, illustrate the wealth of valuable tools, techniques, and opportunities available to develop thriving civic exchanges, and change public expectations of civic life.
The Project also works to bring together discourse practitioners, from novices to experts, through both live events and interactive cybercommunities. Aided by emerging technologies, the Project works to make key building blocks of successful discourse programs -- contact resources, factual information, research tools, expert consultation -- readily accessible and continuously available to all.
The Penn Public Talk Project's programmatic initiatives are designed to achieve three critical tasks identified by the Penn National Commission:
- The creation of a nationwide
network of venues that are available and committed to the conduct of
productive public talk and the development of robust "communities
of conversation."
- The development of civic
leaders who are committed and properly prepared to lead these conversations.
- The demonstration of exemplary discourse practices through a variety of public programs that address societal issues on which there is substantial disagreement.
Through both its own public programs and partnerships with a wide variety of other organizations and institutions --discourse programs, libraries, museums, colleges and universities, community organizations, schools, issue advocacy groups, human relations organizations, and professional and affinity-based associations -- the Penn Public Talk Project is supporting a variety of creative efforts to foster a sense of shared community and civic engagement in the rapidly changing social and cultural environment of the early 21st century.
Origins of the Penn Public Talk Project
The Penn Public Talk Project has its roots in the work of the Penn National Commission on Society, Culture and Community.
Beginning in 1996, the Commission's chair and convenor, University of Pennsylvania President Dr. Judith Rodin, challenged an international group of 48 leading scholars, political figures, and shapers of public opinion to address the "polarization, oversimplification, and isolation from important cultural and intellectual traditions" that appeared to characterize our public discourse.
Over a three-year period, the Commission carefully examined the problems of contemporary public discussion and behavior through a series of activities, including coast-to-coast plenary meetings, papers, and commissioned research. The Commission also studied how to foster more engaged and thoughtful conversations about contemporary social issues.
Guided by these findings, the Penn Public Talk Project now seeks to implement the Commission's findings through its innovative, collaborative programs.
Penn's Commitment: The Penn Public Talk Project is a natural extension of the University of Pennsylvania's educational philosophy, dating to the principles of its founder, Benjamin Franklin, who linked the theoretical with the practical and viewed "service to humanity" as the ultimate "aim and end" of all education. In this spirit, the Project's work expresses Penn's fundamental commitment to academic excellence, technological innovation in research and communications, and the importance of bringing academic and professional resources to bear on urgent social problems.
Penn Public Talk Project
502 Hollenback Center
3000 South Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6325
Phone: (215) 573-6666
Fax: (215) 573-6667
Email: publictalk@pobox.upenn.edu
Web: www.upenn.edu/publictalk
Dr.
Stephen P. Steinberg, Executive Director
Dr. William Boltz, Associate Director
Ms. Jennifer Yuan, Assistant Director
Ms. Lillian Rozin, Assistant Director
Ms. Cheryl Elaine Howard, Administrative Coordinator