UW-River Falls

Latest News

Coffee with The Times Thursday, April 16, 11:00 a.m. Davee Library Breezeway, "Are the Yankees Ruining Major League Baseball?" Blake Fry, Special Assistant to the Chancellor, will lead the discussion. New York Times articles to read are Yankees Defy Recession to Reel in Another Star, Recession Leads to a Drop in Baseball's Payroll, and Spending Big, but Not at All Costs. Light refreshments served.

About the American Democracy Project

The American Democracy Project, a multi-campus initiative sponsored by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and the New York Times, seeks to foster informed civic engagement in the United States. UW-River Falls has joined with 195 other Universities, representing over 1.7 million students, to increase the number of undergraduates who are committed to engaging in an informed and meaningful civic life.

The project embraces a definition of civic engagement as articulated by Tom Erlich in Civic Responsibility and Higher Education (Thomas Erlich, ed., Phoenix: Oryx Press, 2000.)

Civic engagement means working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes (Preface, pg. vi).

To learn more about the development and objectives of this project, read the ADP Project Summary

Activities on Campus

2008-09 Academic Year

Coffee with The Times
"Coffee with The Times" is a series of informal conversations, providing students, faculty, staff, and community members an opportunity to exchange ideas and opinions on current events and issues. Sessions are held in the Breezeway of Davee Library and refreshments are provided by The New York Times. Spring 2009 SCHEDULE.

Thursday, April 16, 11 a.m. Davee Library Breezeway, "Are the Yankees Ruining Major League Baseball?"
Blake Fry, Special Assistant to the Chancellor, will lead the discussion. New York Times articles to read are Yankees Defy Recession to Reel in Another Star, Recession Leads to a Drop in Baseball's Payroll, and Spending Big, but Not at All Costs.

Educating for Democracy Reading and Discussion Group

The UWRF chapter of the American Democracy Project is organizing a reading and discussion group for the book Educating for Democracy. From the authors of Educating Citizens, Educating for Democracy reports the results of the Political Engagement Project, a study of educational practices at the college level that prepare students for responsible democratic participation. To reserve your spot in the reading group and a free copy of Educating for Democracy, email Blake Fry at blake.fry@uwrf.edu.

2007-08 Academic Year
The 2007-08 academic year was an exciting one for the ADP chapter at UWRF. Events included our participation in the Deliberative Polling Project and an appearance by New York Times editor Greg Brock. To view a complete recap of our activities from 2007-08, CLICK HERE.

2006-07 Academic Year
The UWRF ADP chapter prepared a poster for the 2007 National American Democracy Project Campus Showcase that highlighted the civic engagement programs on the UWRF campus during the 2006-07 academic year. To view the poster, CLICK HERE.

How to Get Involved

A number of UW-River Falls faculty and staff are involved in the Project. Subscribe to the Civic Engagement listserv to join the conversation.

Contact Blake Fry, administrative director of the American Democracy Project at UWRF for more information.

Read more about civic engagement and service learning. Check out one of these books available in the Chalmer Davee Library.

Additional Resources

The American Democracy Project at UWRF maintains an archive of past ADP sponsored lectures. These lectures, highlighting various aspects of civic engagement, are available on DVD and may be checked out free of charge from the Chancellor's Office by calling 715-425-3711. Lectures in the archive include:

Connie Foster , Interim Chancellor, University of Wisconsin-River Falls
Greg Brock, Senior Editor, The New York Times
Anne Colby, Senior Scholar, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
John Cronin, Director, Pace Academy for the Environment
George Mehaffy, Vice President, Academic Leadership and Change, American Association of State Colleges and Universities

To learn more about the American Democracy Project, its sponsoring organizations, and organizations that share a common vision to the American Democracy Project, we recommend the following links: