Hosted by AltLiberalArts, in partnership with the Global Centre for Rehumanising Democracy (GCRD)

Zoom registration: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vSdv7SwvSNuS6C4y5NYmcA

How can universities prepare students not simply to study democracy, but to participate in its renewal?

Across six universities on four continents, faculty and students are using the Democracy Discourse Index (DDI) to examine public discourse for empathy, civility, trust, and democratic agency. Developed by the Global Centre for Rehumanising Democracy, Sensika Technologies and a consortium of founding universities, the DDI combines locally informed human analysis with AI-enabled analysis at scale, transforming classrooms into a distributed observatory of democratic life.

This virtual panel brings together faculty and student researchers from Pakistan, Albania, Greece and the United States to explore how the DDI is being incorporated into coursework and co-curricular programmes. Panellists will discuss what students learn by treating their own public spheres (including user comments on local news media platforms) as data; how cultural and linguistic knowledge can guide the responsible use of AI; and what early findings reveal about democratic stress and resilience across different societies.

Of particular interest to educators, researchers, institutional leaders and students, the session offers a practical model for integrating civic engagement, global learning, digital literacy and responsible AI into liberal arts education. It will also introduce opportunities for universities to join the growing DDI research and teaching consortium.

Speakers & Panellists

• Dr. Margee Ensign - GCRD Board Chair

• Dr. Jacob Udo-Udo Jacob - GCRD Founding Executive Director

• Prof. Wajiha Raza Rizvi — NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, Pakistan

• Prof. Juliana Cyfeku — Fan S. Noli University of Korçë (UNIKO), Albania

• Prof. Verse Shom — Tulane University, United States

• Prof. Panagiotis Paschalidis — Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

Student voices

• Redina Skënderi — Fan S. Noli University, Korçë, Albania

• Subulna Imran — NED University of Engineering & Technology, Pakistan

Moderator

• Croshelle Harris - GCRD Director of Strategic Projects & Partnerships

What the session covers

• Movement I — The case for a new instrument. Why democracy needs a discourse-based measure, the DDI’s four dimensions, and the human-AI methodology that keeps student and faculty coding at the centre of the model.

• Movement II — Democracy in the classroom. How the DDI works as pedagogy, from full coursework integration to a co-curricular certificate model, and how coder training, intercoder reliability and multilingual adaptation are handled across four very different sites.

• Student voices. Two student researchers reflect on what it changed for them to read their own public sphere as data.

• Movement III — First findings. Early findings from each pilot site, and a comparative reflection on what they reveal about democratic stress and resilience across contexts.

• Open discussion. Q&A with the full panel.

Who should attend

Educators, researchers, institutional leaders and students interested in civic engagement, global learning, digital literacy and responsible AI in higher education. The session also carries an open invitation for universities to join the growing DDI research and teaching consortium.

Registration

Further details and registration here.