I’m interested in having a conversation about the intersections of the humanities, technology, and deliberative democracy.  This past year, I’ve worked at the Kettering Foundation and have taken part in workshops among a small group of college faculty who are using deliberation in their classrooms.  A consistent theme in our discussions was how technology might facilitate the teaching of deliberation or the act of deliberation.  Put another way, what is to be gained by adding technology to deliberation theories and processes?  Why and how might humanities faculty combine deliberation and technology in their courses, particularly around the civic mission of many liberal arts colleges?  Some brainstorming ideas: discussions about theories of democracy and technology, using deliberative methods via social media, the use of technology to enhance civic engagement with the class, the campus, and the community, and so on.

I didn’t see anyone posting yet, so I thought I would start the discussion myself and invite others to join in to this post, if you want (i.e. go ahead and edit it, or respond).

I have a few things I would love to discuss, but as this is my first THATcamp, I am not sure exactly how specific I should be . . . so, I’ll just jump in!

IDEAS . . .

Using Social Media in the Classroom

I use Facebook and Twitter to interact with my students, mostly just as a communication tool . . . but I have also begun to use Facebook as a tool for classroom “group presentations.”  How have others used FaceBook, Twitter, and MySpace in the classroom?

What Happened to “Humanities” in Digital Humanities?

I don’t know about you, but when I try to look into the field of “Digital Humanities” I find it mostly populated with computer geeks who seem to have learned programming in utero.  I’m an English professor, not a programmer!  How can we make this field more accessible to people who love technology as an end-user, not as a developer?

Using ePortfolios in the Classroom

This is probably passé for many participants at THATcamp, but my program uses WordPress blogs as ePortfolios for our students (and for class websites).  I would love to share my experience doing this, and hear some great new ideas for ePortfolios.