By Katherine Murphy, LWV of Kittitas County 

Registration is open for the latest Cultivating Civic Conversations: About the State of Our Democracy seminar group. This free 10-week series, being held Thursdays Jan. 6–March 10, 2022, will have both morning (11 a.m.) and evening sessions (5 p.m.) to accommodate different schedules.  

The meetings offer participants an opportunity to step back and use a “beginner’s mind” when discussing civic education and engagement. If we want to encourage our friends, co-workers, and family to participate in our democracy, then sometimes we need a fresh approach—one that makes fewer assumptions about what “everyone knows” about our history and government. 

The seminar uses the LWVWA’s elementary civics textbook, The State We’re In: Washington, as the anchoring framework. The book is available online for free or in hard copy (ordering information will be included in the registration materials). The course creator and facilitator, Katherine Murphy, adds content from diverse sources to expand each week’s discussion.  

Each week’s assignment includes up to 25 pages of text to read and a podcast to listen to (there is usually a transcript) as well as reflection questions to consider. The Zoom sessions are one hour and include additional content as well as discussion. The Sutra Spaces discussion platform is used to manage and keep all the group materials in one place.  

Participants in the previous Cultivating Civic Conversations have said: 

• "This excellent class opened my mind and my heart to new ways of learning and thinking about our country's history and acting to address injustice." 

• "I am astounded at how much I learned and the resolve I now have to make a positive difference." 

Katherine Murphy (LWV of Kittitas County) and Wende Sanderson (LWV of Skagit County) developed the Cultivating Civic Conversations (CCC) program to meet the need expressed by community and League members who want “to learn how everything works in government.” Since that is a tall order, we decided to use a seminar format and tackle one theme at a time because we believe that it is easier to learn, grow, and thrive within a community of learners. Research shows that long-term civic engagement is built on personal one-on-one connections, and we focus on this approach. 

We've built a structure that tries to answer part of the larger question, "How do we learn how to have transformative conversations about what it means to be human and, as humans, to constructively participate in our civic affairs?" We hope that Cultivating Civic Conversations: About the State of Our Democracy will help you to: 

• Discover new voices, historical context, viewpoints, and resources. 

• Reflect upon and reframe your place in your community. 

• Encourage and expand your capacity for civic engagement. 

• Nurture humor, insight, joy, and perspective. 

For more information and to register for the free seminar, visit the CCC webpage on Sutra.  

If you have questions or want to be added to the mailing list for future sessions, email Katherine.