Session Two: What is Good Deliberation?

This week, we will be asking what practices and principles should be followed in discussions where a group of people are trying to arrive at a good decision.  Below I have listed a number of tasks that should be completed before class.

Task One: Read the Introduction, Chapter One, and Chapter Two of John Gastil’s Political Communication and Deliberation

Task Two: Watch 12 Angry Men,  comment on this post about the film, and reply to three of your classmates’ comments.

An excellent way to start reflecting about good and bad deliberative practices is by viewing the film 12 Angy Men, which can be rented inexpensively from Amazon.com’s instant video service when you follow this link, and is also available from a variety of other sources.  Make sure to get the 1957 version staring Henry Fonda.

Task Three: Review and Comment on Projects Posted on  @ the Agora.

In order to see the kind of topics that students write about in this class and begin to get some ideas about the project that you want to work on, go to the @ the Agora website and comment on three of the projects that you see there.  The material you will find was all created by Communication in Public Settings students.