GCRD Hosts First DDI Faculty Information Session
GCRD hosted its first Democracy Discourse Index (DDI) Faculty Information Session on 3 December 2025, bringing together university faculty across countries and multiple disciplines to explore participation in the Spring 2026 pilot.
A Focus on Student Benefit
A central theme of the session was how students can meaningfully benefit from the DDI — both within formal coursework and through extracurricular engagement. Faculty raised thoughtful questions about integrating DDI data into assignments, research projects, and civic learning activities.
Participants highlighted the value of giving students hands-on experience with real-time democratic discourse data, strengthening their analytical skills and deepening their understanding of democratic behaviour online.
Demonstration and Design
Dr Jacob Udo-Udo Jacob outlined the conceptual foundations of the DDI, emphasising the need to measure democratic health not only through institutions but through the moral and relational qualities of public discourse.
Liliya Grigorova of Sensika Technologies provided a live demonstration of the Sensika platform, showing how digital discourse is collected, analysed, and visualised. Her walkthrough offered faculty a clear view of how the platform will be used in the project.
Croshelle Harris, who oversees the DDI project, guided attendees through the mechanics of participation, including timelines, onboarding, and the support available to faculty and students.
Looking Ahead
The session closed with a shared sense of momentum and purpose. Faculty expressed their interest in contributing to a global initiative that equips students to study democracy in a new, empirically grounded way.
The DDI will build a new evidence base for democratic wellbeing—one that moves beyond institutional indicators to analyse the linguistic patterns, epistemic norms, and relational qualities that shape our public sphere.
