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Is Civics in Crisis? Or Just Changing its Shape?

 Is Civics In Crisis? Or Just Changing Its Shape? Blog Image

In late January, Austin Oberbillig and Evan Ricks, students at Olympia High School in Olympia, Washington made a video called “Lunch Scholars." The video was meant to be a high school version of “Jaywalking," a sketch Jay Leno has done for twenty years, where he asks people on the street near his Hollywood studio simple questions – who was the first U.S. president?… more

What Ancient Greek Rhetoric Might Teach Us About New Civics

What Ancient Greek Rhetoric Might Teach Us About New Civics Blog Image

A great deal of our conversation lately has focused on getting governments to open up their data and to share what they know with the general public. We are beginning to see a larger trend emerge -– much of the thinking of the power of technology to transform societies, especially societies in the developing world, focuses on government transparency. I think this focus is deeply important, but I also think it’s an incomplete way to understand the space of technology and social change.… more

Understanding Digital Civics

Understanding Digital Civics Blog Image

Last week, I gave a lecture titled “The Emergence of Digital Civics” at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia. I was in South Australia to give another lecture, a joint lecture with Dr. Genevieve Bell of Intel in memory of her friend James Tizard. I hope to write up the talks Genevieve and I gave, but since I had detailed notes for my civics lecture, I’ve worked them into a blog post.… more