MORE THAN POLITENESS: REIMAGINING CIVIL DISCOURSE IN THE FIRST-YEAR EXPERIENCE

Abstract

In an era with increased political polarization and decreased democratic participation, the need for civil discourse education, specifically in higher education, is greater than ever. This thesis explores the impact of a short-term civil discourse intervention on first-year honors students at the University of Delaware and investigates scalable policy solutions to integrate civil discourse education into the entire university population. Through a quasi-experimental design, this study evaluates the effectiveness of a Braver Angels parliamentary-style debate within a mandatory First Year Seminar (FYS) course. A pre-post survey assessed changes in students’ attitudes and behaviors related to six key variables: students’ views on the value of civil discourse, recognition of knowledge limitations, empathy for different perspectives, self-assessed communication skills, openness to learning, and behavioral change. Only 4 of 43 questions on the survey instrument yielded statistically significant shifts in opinions, which highlights the challenges of changing deeply held beliefs through one brief intervention. Acknowledging the limitations of this experiment, the second half of this thesis is a landscape analysis of civil discourse interventions at peer institutions UNC Chapel Hill, California State University, Chico, and James Madison University. These institutions provide promising models for integrating civil discourse into various mandatory first-year experiences such as orientation or general education classes. Finally, this thesis proposes specific policy recommendations for the University of Delaware that highlight the need for a scalable, multi-touchpoint, embedded approach for all students. The role of higher education is not just to teach academic content but to also prepare students to be active and engaged democratic citizens.