On August 25, 2010, the Mathews Center convened a workshop that focused on framing the high school dropout rate issue in the state of Alabama. The participants represented numerous organizations and institutions, and the information that was gathered will help the Center develop an issue map that will be used by Alabama Issues Forums throughout [...]
A common bumper sticker comment is “what we need is action, not talk.” Or other words to the effect that talk wastes time, let’s act. How often do you also hear “we need to get everyone on the same page”? Whether or not talk wastes time depends on what sort of talk it is. Whether [...]
When Chris McCauley asked me to write a weekly note for the David Mathews Center website, he said write about whatever I wished. Here is what I am thinking today. We who started this Center to honor the life and work of David Mathews have spoken of our purpose as fostering infrastructure and habits for [...]
One sweltering hot summer day, a resident of Oak Grove stopped by Comet Grove, the town’s community garden, to learn about how the garden was progressing and how food would be distributed. As the conversation wound down, we began to discuss our personal lives, and the topic of my major at Auburn University began being [...]
This summer, I’ve been working with Canterbury Episcopal Chapel and the surrounding communities to create community gardens–one located on the grounds of Canterbury, and maintained by volunteers, the other located at University Place middle and elementary school, started by a recently formed nonprofit, the Druid City Garden Project. I’ve also been helping the Canterbury Community establish long-term goals for [...]
The Second Annual Teacher’s Institute was a great success for the Mathews Center. A total of 34 teachers participated from Jefferson County and Hale County, and Peggy and Curtis Sparks of Sparks Consulting, Inc. did a fantastic job of recruiting relevant presenters including Dr. Ethel Hall, Dr. Boyd Rogan, and Dorothy Battle. Overall, the teachers [...]
On March 3 – 6, 2010, the David Mathews Center for Civic Life and the University of Alabama’s New College hosted a national student conference in Point Clear, Alabama entitled “Connect the Dots.” The conference goal was to provide a forum for students learning about how to embed democratic practices in their everyday work and [...]
Over the past year, the David Mathews Center for Civic Life (DMC) conducted forums in over 20 communities across the state of Alabama through our signature program entitled Alabama Issues Forums (AIF). Using the National Issues Forums (NIF) issue book entitled “Democracy’s Challenge: Reclaiming the Public’s Role,” DMC staff and interns traveled all over Alabama [...]
The Citizens’ Congress event was conceived midway through the AIF project cycle. Rather than the Mathews Center choosing the AIF issue for 2010 – 2011, Mark Wilson suggested that the Center bring a large group of concerned Alabama citizens together to think through an issue of public concern with table facilitators. The Center decided to [...]
Following the 2009 – 2010 Alabama Issues Forums project cycle, Mark Wilson and I decided to author a report and present it at the Alabama Department of Archives and History. We entitled the event, “Overcoming Challenges to Democracy in the State of Alabama,” and the report focused on forum reflections and concrete examples of communities [...]
