In the last week, I attended two deliberations, one as a participant on the topic” fifty shades of consent” and one as a moderator of one approach on the topic “State Patty’s Day.” Because English is my second language, in most part I act as a listener. But the group members are nice. When I told them I was worried about my English and might made mistakes, they told me they would create some questions so that there would not be awkward silence. Also since there is cultural difference, sometimes I agree on what people said but I need to change to another brain to think about it in other people’s shoes especially on the “sexual assault” topic. Both the two groups did good jobs. The “fifty shades of consent” is a broader topic, so there are many points to extend. However, since the State Patty’s Day is a topic within the community, our group dives into many specific approaches and examples, but we still ended some time earlier. Each of us tries best to try to continue the topic and made the conversations going on. Through these two deliberations, I learned a lot, not only about the deliberation processes, but also different ways to continue the conversations and break the embarrassed silence. Also, though the deliberation is serious and formal, humor is needed. Examples are also important because examples are everywhere in our life, which is a good point where people can participate in the deliberation, not like the abstract reasoning part.
For an idea for paper four: the recommendation reports, I still want to write about my group’s topic: State Patty’s Day. During the deliberation, what impressed me was Dr. Ohara’s question: Do you think we should bring families into State Patty’s Day or just leave it a student-oriented holiday. This is a point that all the group members haven’t though about. At least my mind is limited to the three approaches: how to control the damage and what kind of alternative activities we could find to take place of the alcohol parties. I totally agree with this idea and would like to develop my recommendation report to this point. There are some alternative activities such as the concert and parade that will attract families in the town or in the near-by towns. Since there are parents and kids as audience of concert and parade, students may not be as crazy as what they are in the parties. So I would definitely recommend this approach.
It was interesting to read that you acted more as a listener during the first deliberation due to English being your second language. However, I don’t think that you should be afraid to speak up and say your opinion! I am also considering writing a similar recommendation report!