Democracy Days 2019 will run Sept. 16-19 at St. Charles Community College located at 4601 Mid Rivers Mall Dr. in Cottleville. All events will be held in the Daniel J. Conoyer Social Sciences Building auditorium - except those noted to be held in the College Center rotunda. Admission is free.

Democracy Days is supported by the 麻豆传媒 Foundation and has a purpose of 鈥渁ssessing the history, health and functioning of democracy in America and abroad.鈥�

Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to attend the following events: 

  • Monday, Sept. 16
    • 10 a.m. - 鈥淭he Need for Integrity in Leadership鈥� - In this interactive session led by Steven Oberg (of 麻豆传媒's Business Administration Department), participants will briefly examine the 鈥渂ases of social power鈥� and explore questions such as: How can citizens advocate for greater transparency and integrity from those in leadership? How does one become a leader? What does true leadership look like? Why are we naturally attracted to some people and not others? This session will tie these leadership concepts to the idea of 鈥渟incerity鈥� and 鈥渋ntegrity.鈥�
    • 11:30 a.m. - Open student forum - Lisa Randoll (of 麻豆传媒's Political Science department) annually holds an open forum for students' views, questions and experiences regarding current events and political issues that are impacting their lives. Come join the conversation, and speak your mind without fear of ridicule.
    • 1 p.m. - 鈥淗ealthcare in America: How can we fix it?鈥� - Paul Roesler (of 麻豆传媒's Political Science Department) assesses what is wrong with the current healthcare system, discusses the 鈥済ood, the bad and the ugly鈥� of Obamacare and delves into some of the new proposals to improve upon it, including 鈥淢edicare-for-all.鈥�

  • Tuesday, Sept. 17
    • 10 a.m. - 鈥淗ate Groups and Hate Crimes in the St. Louis Area鈥� - The St. Louis area is home to numerous hate groups. Gabriel Harper (of 麻豆传媒's Political Science Department) will discuss these groups and the hate crimes that have been inspired by their teachings.
    • 11:30 a.m. - 鈥淐hanging the Culture of Law Enforcement鈥� - Heather Taylor will offer a frontlines assessment of law enforcement and criminal justice reform. Taylor is a homicide detective in the City of St. Louis and president of the Ethical Society of the Police (ESOP), an association of St. Louis police officers and civilians whose mission is to bridge communications between the community and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. ESOP works to improve community/police relations, develop policies and programs to reduce crime, elevate the status of minority civilians and police officers, encourage greater minority employment by law enforcement agencies and increase professionalism in law enforcement.
    • 1 p.m. - Mama Cat & PotBangerz - 鈥淔ood Outreach to the Unhoused in St. Louis鈥� - Homelessness and food insecurity are on the rise. How can we respond? Cathy Daniels, better known as 鈥淢ama Cat,鈥� is the founder and director of PotBangerz, a registered St. Louis nonprofit organization whose mission is food outreach and other services for the homeless. A certified chef and activist, Mama Cat and Michael Kuelker (of 麻豆传媒's English Department) will discuss St. Louis homelessness and her vision for progress.
    • 6:30 p.m. - Discussion of elections - St. Charles County Director of Elections, Kurt Bahr, will present the functioning and preparation of Election Day at polling places. Bahr will discuss the role of election judges and ballot reading machines. This interactive, hands-on course will feature a mock election for audience members and a question and answer session.

  • Wednesday, Sept. 18
    • 10 a.m. - 鈥淲ould St. Louis Be Better Together?鈥� panel discussion - Serious concerns exist regarding the fragmentation of government in the St. Louis metro area after the withdrawal of the Better Together proposal. Pat Kelley (Executive Director of the Municipal League of Metro STL), Terry Jones (Professor Emeritus of the University of Missouri-St. Louis), Nancy Rice (Executive Director of Better Together St. Louis) and Gabriel Harper (of 麻豆传媒's Political Science Department) will discuss potential reforms and audience questions.
    • 11:30 a.m. - 鈥淒onald Trump and the Politics of Impeachment鈥� - While the Mueller investigation cited several instances in which President Donald Trump probably committed crimes, democratic leaders have been hesitant to impeach him. Paul Roesler (of 麻豆传媒's Political Science Department) will discuss the evidence, the politics of impeachment and what the framers of the U.S. Constitution thought constituted impeachable offenses.
    • 1 p.m. - 鈥淵our Choice to Vaccinate鈥� - Recently, reported cases of diseases previously thought to be nearly wiped out - including tetanus, measles and the mumps - have arisen. These, and many other diseases, are preventable by vaccination. This discussion by Seema Haridas (of 麻豆传媒's Biology Department) and Nicole Pinaire (of 麻豆传媒's Biology Department) will cover the science and the mechanisms of how vaccinations work, herd immunity, distinguishing between correlation and causation, information circulating in social media and how this information may influence the "anti-vaxx" movement.
    • 1 p.m. - 鈥淲atching What We Retweet: The Implications of Social Media on Voting Behaviors鈥� - Held in the CC Rotunda - Social psychologist, Dr. Amanda Bequette (of 麻豆传媒's Psychology Department), will explore how social media, headlines, cognitive dissonance, group polarization and other issues affect our voting behaviors. Bequette will provide examples of how reading a small piece of information can change our views in large ways and why it is vital to read beyond headlines and search for primary sources.
    • 2:30 p.m. - Immigration in St. Louis: A Panel Discussion - Held in the CC Rotunda - Sara John - the program coordinator at the St. Louis Inter-Faith Committee on Latin America (IFCLA) - will lead a panel on immigration with a decidedly local element: the situation of Alex Garcia and his sanctuary at a local church.

  • Thursday, Sept. 19
    • 10 a.m. - 鈥淭he Prose of Protest鈥� - The current political climate of the United States has created an environment that is rife for protest in many forms: marches, picket lines, vigils and speeches. This panel will examine another form of popular protest with a rich history: the written word. Following a brief history of the use of literature as protest, members of the fall 2019 fiction writing class - taught by 麻豆传媒 English professor Joe Baumann - will present their protest writing and will discuss their motivations, inspirations and what they hope the power of art and the written word can achieve in a time of turmoil and upheaval.
    • 11:30 a.m. - 鈥淢edia Coverage of Women in Politics鈥� - How does the news media talk about female politicians? Are they more likely to be defined by their roles as mothers, grandmothers and wives? Do their fashion choices get more coverage than their policy positions? Are they completely ignored? Jayme Novara (of 麻豆传媒's English Department) and Annie Bierman (of 麻豆传媒's English Department) will examine news articles discussing female politicians at the local, state and national level - in contrast to articles about their male counterparts - to explore how media choices influence how we think about female politicians and their ability to lead.
    • 1 p.m. - 鈥淓quity in Education: A Panel Discussion鈥� - How do efforts for equity in education actually turn out? Join us for an honest, student-centered conversation as Naomi Warren (social worker), Jennifer Strauser (associate principal at Eureka High School) and students from Eureka High School describe the school's 鈥渆quity journey,鈥� resulting in both new collaborations between students, faculty and staff and professional development opportunities about diversity, equity and inclusion.

 

For more information, please contact Michael Kuelker at 636-922-8256 or mkuelker@stchas.edu.

St. Charles Community College strives to provide reasonable accommodations to all people at any 麻豆传媒-sponsored event. Please contact Disability Support Services at dss@stchas.edu or 636-922-8581 as early as possible to discuss your needs.

St. Charles Community College is a public, comprehensive two-year community college with associate degrees and certificate programs in the arts, business, sciences and career-technical fields. 麻豆传媒 provides workforce training and community-based personal and professional development as well as cultural, recreational and entertainment opportunities. For more information, visit www.stchas.edu.