Welcome to the Democracy & Citizenship Initiative!

Washington University's Democracy and Citizenship Initiative will be a two-year-long effort (involving faculty, students, administrators, and staff) to better understand American higher education's relationship to the values and ambitions of a free society and, more specifically, to examine the meaning of citizenship for Washington University in its relationship with the greater St. Louis community, the nation, and the world. This will be a university-wide project, one involving self reflection as we consider the particular nature of our institution and the responsibilities and opportunities we face. An important part of this exploration will be an ongoing consideration of our relationship with the city and locale that have helped sustain us for more than 150 years, as well as with the nation whose democratic ideals rely on a commitment to education. Universities face the double challenge of educating citizens and of being a citizen with responsibilities to the society of which we are so intrinsically a part. At the same time we are also an important link between these communities and the larger world--in teaching and scholarship but also through our institutional partnerships. The challenge of being part of such differing constituencies with obligations to each requires us to consider who we are as a university and how that identity influences each of these relationships.

During the 2008-2010 academic year we will attempt--through committees and discussion groups, conferences and other events--to engage as much of the Washington University community as possible, and through this year-long conversation to identify the key issues that we face, while establishing an agenda for the years to come.