This year, CSU chose Democracy and Civic Engagement as the theme for our Thematic Year. Across campus, events are being held that center on democracy, particularly as we look toward our presidential election next year.
In CVMBS, we too kicked off conversations about democracy on Thursday, Nov. 2 to discuss some of the ways democracy is connected to our mission, research, and work within the college. With faculty, staff, and leadership joining the discussion, we identified a variety of questions and directions that we will pursue further in our democracy-related events in the spring.
What happens when our research is politicized?
During the pandemic, our college was extremely active with research and services related to the COVID-19 pandemic. And, as the pandemic became politicized, many researchers were thrust into the limelight, sometimes unexpectedly. Folks in our college were contacted by the media or other community members and asked to comment on or answer for the work they were engaged in. We discussed ways we might better prepare our research community for when our work is used or interpreted in ways we don’t anticipate. The group also identified and shared resources, including the Colorado Clinical Translational Science Institute’s (CCTSI) workshop series, Communicating Your Science to the Public.
How do leaders at CSU think about and incorporate principles of democracy?
Much of the work we do in higher education is not democratic in a classic sense of the term. Depending on the level or the decision, sometimes some folks vote, other times we use different processes. However, even though the decisions made at CSU or in our college don’t always have a vote, we suspect they often involve democratic principles in other ways, leading us to ask what those ways are and how our leaders use them to navigate decision-making.
What opportunities do democracy and democratic principles create for our college?
In our college, we are proud to have faculty, staff, and alumni who are involved in creating, supporting, and challenging state and federal policy. Given our breadth of research and leadership in veterinary medicine, we are often called on to provide input on many policies that affect people, animals, and our planet. But, we also wondered if we could grow our impact by more proactively recommending policy in our world, particularly for those who haven’t previously been involved in those processes. We hope to use our thematic year of democracy and civic engagement to explore these possibilities!
As we continue to engage in CSU’s Thematic Year of Democracy, be sure to stay tuned for events and programs in our college and across the university.
