Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship Archives - Page 2 of 2 - News and Media

Star Tribune features Frank Hornstein in commentary on
political rhetoric

Posted on January 11, 2016January 11, 2016

The Star Tribune recently published an editorial column that featured an interview with Minneapolis DFL Rep. Frank Hornstein, a senior fellow in聽Augsburg College’s Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship. The column discusses the widespread use of Hitler and Nazi references in U.S. political rhetoric. The topic has both personal and professional significance for Hornstein; his grandparents were killed by the Nazis and he intends to author a book about the Holocaust’s impact on modern political discourse.

In regard to frequent comparisons between political opponents and Hitler, the article quotes Hornstein as saying, “鈥淚f everyone is Hitler, who is Hitler really? When you go right to a Hitler analogy, you鈥檝e already lost the argument. You鈥檝e cheapened the debate.鈥�

Read: on the Star Tribune site.

Harry Boyte shares commentary on teaching democratic values with The Hill

Posted on November 23, 2015November 23, 2015

Harry Boyte, senior fellow in the Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship, recently wrote an online column for political newspaper The Hill in which he argues that educators should seek to develop students’ abilities to handle conflict by engaging them in self-guided civic involvement. Recent conversations about free speech and identity politics have primarily focused on either criticizing or applauding students’ approaches to effecting change, a trend which Boyte feels too readily discounts a student’s agency.

“Young people are hungry for opportunities to learn the skills and concepts to handle conflicts and make constructive change,” he writes. Providing timely guidance and these opportunities is important because, “Young people are citizens today, not citizens in preparation.”

Boyte outlines the Public Achievement model of “citizen politics” as everyday problem-solving and public work. Public Achievement sees students work together on real-world projects (such as building a playground for local children) that require a broad set of skills vital to a democratic way of life. In one example, the students “got the parish council on their side, negotiated zoning changes with city officials, and raised $60,000 from local businesses. To accomplish these feats, they learned how to interview people, write letters, give speeches, call people they didn鈥檛 know. They deliberated, created alliances, raised money, mapped power, did research.”

Read: on The Hill’s site.

Harry Boyte discusses “organizing” versus “mobilizing” in
higher education

Posted on October 22, 2015October 22, 2015

In his most recent article for the Huffington Post, Harry Boyte, senior scholar in Augsburg College鈥檚 Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship, argues in favor of a relationship-based model for engaging students in democratic society.

Boyte refers to the “organizing” versus “mobilizing” model pioneered by civil rights leaders such as Ella Baker and Bob Moses. In this view of activism, mobilizing is goal-driven and short-lived, while organizing is relationship-driven and sustains engagement over time. Boyte draws a parallel between these different types of聽activism and educational approaches that focus either on outcomes–such as test scores–or personal growth and agency.

Read: at the Huffington Post.

Harry Boyte discusses higher education’s role in expanding democracy

Posted on June 19, 2015

Huffington-Post In his latest聽Huffington Post article,聽Harry Boyte, Augsburg鈥檚 Sabo Senior Fellow, discusses the ways in which higher education can help people develop the skills of a democratic way of life. Boyte’s article used examples from the Augsburg College community to聽show how programming can聽prepare students to serve as “citizen professionals” and change agents.

Visit The Huffington Post website to read, “.”

Harry Boyte lends expertise to Forbes

Posted on March 30, 2015February 7, 2020

Harry Boyte, senior scholar in Augsburg College’s Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship, was named in a聽Forbes article about the changing tides and criticisms of聽public higher education. Boyte was mentioned聽in the article due to his role as a long-time commentator on democracy and聽its relation to higher learning.

Read, on the Forbes website.

Harry Boyte discusses public work on Huffington Post

Posted on December 17, 2014

In his recent article聽for The Huffington Post, Harry Boyte — Augsburg’s Sabo Senior Fellow — discusses the role Augsburg College and other universities can play in helping students address problems, meet challenges, and build a more democratic society using the public work approach. Read the article,聽,聽to learn more about Augsburg’s “down-to-earth quality wedding liberal arts education to career training grounded in practical experience.”