THE LATEST NEWS FROM UVA'S KARSH INSTITUTE OF DEMOCRACY | |
At the Karsh Institute of Democracy, we work to invigorate the institutions, practices, and cultural underpinnings that are the foundations of democracy.
As part of that effort, we facilitate connections between UVA faculty, students, and practitioners to better understand the issues facing democracy and to identify solutions to problems.
Practitioners collaborating with the Karsh Institute come from various fields and sectors and have included global democracy advocates; technology, media, and legal experts; and local community leaders. Their work with faculty instructors, researchers, and students helps the Institute engage with issues by tapping into their varied approaches and deep experience, broadening both our scope of understanding and action.
In many cases, practitioners’ experience and expertise inform the investigations conducted by researchers. Research findings, in turn, support the work of practitioners, including helping them advance policy recommendations and enact change at various levels of government.
Bringing research and information to policymakers connects people, elected representatives, and institutions with critical data to improve communities. That is democracy in action.
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Fighting the Opioid Epidemic
The Opioid Abatement Authority (OAA) was established by the Virginia General Assembly in 2021 to oversee the distribution of monies from the Virginia Opioid Abatement Fund. Since the OAA began operating in 2022, it has awarded $23 million to 76 cities and counties, and $11 million to state agencies for efforts to abate and remediate the opioid epidemic.
OAA called upon the Virginia Institute of Government (VIG)—part of the Karsh Institute’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service—to produce a series of free “Abatement Academy” webinars, capturing for local government leaders the best practices for using the funds.
Over the course of this public health crisis, studies have shown that the epidemic has had a meaningful effect on democracy.
“The OAA needed to quickly provide information to local leaders across the Commonwealth regarding opioid settlements and strategies for using funds to fight the epidemic at the community level,” said Tony McDowell, executive director of the OAA. “Because of its preexisting relationships and deep credibility with local government leaders, VIG was able to help OAA jump to the head of the line in connecting with these policymakers and provide them with urgently needed information to save lives.”
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WHAT WE'RE READING
“Six Ways To Encourage Political Discussion on College Campuses,” by Rachel Wahl, who serves as director of the Karsh Institute’s Good Life Political Project. In The Conversation, Wahl gives her prescription for how to support a better experience for students when they come together to discuss divisive issues.
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WHAT WE'RE LISTENING TO
An introduction of Leslie Kendrick, the 13th dean of the UVA School of Law. The previous dean, Risa Goluboff, is currently the chair of the Karsh Institute’s advisory board, and UVA Law is home to the Karsh Center for Law and Democracy, one of the Karsh Institute’s invaluable affiliate partners.
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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING
The bipartisan conversations about the first U.S. presidential debate, with UVA politics professor Jennifer Lawless and Mary Kate Cary, director of the Karsh Institute’s Think Again @ UVA. Look for more commentary from both experts, who are co-teaching a fall course on election 2024.
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FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Behind the Scenes With Melody Barnes
June started off on a high note at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., as award-winning singer-songwriter John Legend and Executive Director Melody Barnes sat down for a fireside chat (pictured) to discuss how we all can have an impact on democracy through our own communities.
Barnes later traveled back to D.C. to kick off a panel conversation on the future of digital technology policy. Cohosted by the Karsh Institute’s Digital Technology for Democracy Lab and the John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress, the “Dinner and Democracy" series explores the critical interplay between technology policy and democratic institutions. In the room was a large number of congressional staffers from both sides of the aisle who asked insightful and pressing questions and who sought out the UVA faculty and guest speakers afterward for further conversation.
Barnes then went to London for the panel discussion "Democratic Capitalism at a Crossroads,” co-hosted by the McIntire School of Commerce, UVA Club of London, and the Karsh Institute. She was joined on stage by Syaru Shirley Lin (Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation), Martin Wolf (Financial Times), and Peter Maillet (UVA’s McIntire School of Commerce) to discuss the trends, strategies, and ideas shaping the future of democratic capitalism.
After arriving back stateside, Barnes delivered remarks on the 21st-century American presidency at the Chautauqua Institution for the start of its 150th summer events season. Just prior, Barnes was announced as an inaugural recipient of the Chautauqua Perry Fellowship in Democracy, along with New York Times columnist David French.
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Effecting Change on the Ground...and in the Air
In its work mitigating airborne toxic coal dust in mostly Black neighborhoods in Virginia’s Newport News and Hampton Roads, the Karsh Institute’s Repair Lab has taken a practitioner-driven approach—where residents collaborate with researchers to make positive contributions to their communities.
Two practitioners-in-residence—pastor Lathaniel Kirts and community advocate and educator Malcolm Jones—joined UVA faculty members, post-doctoral researchers, and students on the Repair Lab team to develop policy solutions to address the negative air quality and health impacts of these large piles of coal dust.
The practitioners collaborated with hundreds of citizens and local organizations to build a strategy and, as a result, drafted an ordinance mandating coal dust mitigation. The Newport News city council is likely to vote on the ordinance in late summer or early fall.
With this work, the Repair Lab is connecting community members with data from institutions and elected representatives to put democracy in motion.
“Community advocates have kept this issue alive and on the political agenda for decades,” said Kim Fields, co-director of the Repair Lab. “It’s no longer an issue that people are just talking about. It’s been formalized in a way that it can be presented to city council members to do something about.”
The Lab also created the podcast Crosswinds to give voice to members of the community and to create broad understanding around the issues at stake.
Listen to the Repair Lab team discuss their new podcast, Crosswinds, on With Good Reason.
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'Speaking of Women': The Class of 1974
“Great oratory is timeless,” UVA politics instructor Mary Kate Cary told a crowd on Grounds in May. “Throughout our history as a nation, speeches have started and ended wars, sparked political movements, memorialized our leaders, and enacted positive change.”
Cary, who served as White House speechwriter for George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1992, led the Karsh Institute’s “Speaking of Women” event—part of the UVA Reunions weekend celebrating the historic class of 1974, the University’s first to include women.
Cary focused on speeches given by three specific American women: Senator Margaret Chase Smith (R-Maine), Representative Barbara Jordan (D-Texas), and First Lady Barbara Bush, wife of President George H. W. Bush. “All three of these women stood up for what they believed in, didn’t worry about what others thought about them, and did the right thing when it really mattered,” said Cary. “Most of all, they changed the course of our democracy for the better—by standing up for American values we hold dear.”
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ICYMI Virginia Local News Summit Wins Award!
As part of the Karsh Institute and Virginia Humanities’ 2023 Virginia Local News Summit, the Rappahannock News and Foothill Forum published the article “As Some Newspapers Struggle, Local News Is Harder To Find in Virginia.” Last month, the article won first place for a feature series or continuing story at the Virginia Press Association’s annual competition for excellence in news and advertising.
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Democracy and Nonviolent Movements Around the World
The Karsh Institute supports democracy in not just the United States but also across the globe. As part of this global approach, Karsh Institute Practitioner Fellow in Democracy Srdja Popovic, UVA politics professor Chris Carter (pictured)—who is part of the Karsh Institute’s John L. Nau III History & Principles of Democracy Lab—and Bolivian democracy advocate Jhanisse Vaca-Daza (pictured) are facilitating a nexus of collaboration, investigation, and action.
Popovic is the co-founder of the Center for Applied Nonviolent Actions and Strategies (CANVAS), which works with people in more than 50 countries to advocate for the use of nonviolent resistance in the promotion of human rights and democracy. CANVAS brought its multiday conference “People Power Academy”—featuring democracy advocates from dozens of countries, including Iran, Belarus, and Nicaragua—to Charlottesville in April, in partnership with UVA’s Democratic Futures Project.
Vaca-Daza, who works with CANVAS and founded the environmental rights movement Rios de Pie in Bolivia, has been collaborating with Carter to understand through survey research and focus groups why her movement has been compelling for so many constituencies. Together they explored how to draw in more people, create lasting social and political change, and deepen the democratic responsiveness of the Bolivian government.
“Having people like Chris, who can help us understand the work that we’re doing—put [the research and findings] onto paper so we can actually share it with others—is such an important part of what we do,” Vaca-Daza said.
Watch Vaca-Daza explain more in an interview with Karsh Institute Director of Research Jessica Kimpell Johnson.
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Developing Policy Leaders Across Virginia
Last week, the Karsh Institute and the Weldon Cooper Center’s Sorensen Institute of Political Leadership kicked off the Virginia College Civic Leaders Program for currently enrolled undergraduate students in the Commonwealth who are interested in policy and developing public sector leadership skills.
Twenty-four students from across the state were selected to participate in the five-week program, during which they will examine public policy issues in a vital economic sector. This year the students will focus on health care leadership and public policy.
Over the summer, they will analyze the current landscape, meet with key stakeholders, and explore related issues and implications for society and democracy. Esteemed guest lecturers in 2024 include Virginia First Lady Suzanne Youngkin.
By the time these students go back to their respective schools, they will have learned to analyze and apply core lessons and theories to current issues facing the health care sector. They will have engaged with policymakers and other stakeholders at the local, state, and federal levels. And they will return to their classrooms with a deeper understanding of policymaking and governance in Virginia.
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IN THE NEWS
Media coverage of the Karsh Institute and its affiliates. Some links require a subscription.
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Post Presidential Debate: It's a Remarkable Moment in American Politics
NPR
NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to the Karsh Institute's Mary Kate Cary, who wrote speeches for President George H.W. Bush, and Paul Orzulak, who was a Clinton administration speechwriter, about current presidential politics.
UVA Experts: Biden's Debate Performance Puts Party in a Hard Place
UVA Today
UVA political experts sat down with the Karsh Institute to discuss the most recent presidential debate.
UNO Is a Young Person's Game—and Other Starr Hill Lessons
UVA Today
Starr Hill Pathways is a career- and college-readiness program for Charlottesville-area middle- and high-school students, run by the Karsh Institute's Equity Center.
Student-Made Mural Unveiled at UVA's Equity Center
NBC 29
The people behind a new mural in the Karsh Institute’s Equity Center say it represents the beauty behind people of all backgrounds coming together.
What Could Move the 2024 Needle During the Debate
POLITICO
"The candidate who is better at taking the high ground—laying out effective policies and an optimistic agenda for a stronger America—will be the one to gain enough votes in swing states to win," the Karsh Institute's Mary Kate Cary said.
2024 Virginia Women in Leadership Awards
Virginia Business
Virginia Business Magazine's Women in Leadership Awards included Karsh Institute Executive Director Melody Barnes.
Biden and Trump Debate: UVA's Mary Kate Cary
NPR
NPR's Steve Inskeep spoke with former Bush 41 speechwriter Mary Kate Cary, director of the Karsh Institute’s Think Again @ UVA, prior to the recent presidential debate.
Heterodox Academy Award Winners
HeterodoxAcademy.org
Heterodox Academy presented an Open Inquiry Award to Mary Kate Cary, director of the Karsh Institute’s Think Again @ UVA.
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Melody Barnes, David French Named Inaugural Chautauqua Perry Fellows in Democracy
chq.org
The Chautauqua Institution announced Karsh Institute Executive Director Melody Barnes and journalist David French as the inaugural recipients of the Chautauqua Perry Fellowship in Democracy.
Starr Hill Pathways Camp for Kids
NBC 29
The Starr Hill Pathways summer camp—organized by the Karsh Institute's Equity Center—had its third annual program for underserved kids at the University of Virginia.
Who Gets to Decide What Counts as ‘Disorder’?
The Conversation
Jess Reia of the Karsh Institute’s Digital Technology for Democracy Lab reviewed the responses to protests on U.S. campuses as threats to not just freedom of speech but also the fundamental rights of people in public spaces.
The Small Town Life Beckons for Many as Americans Continue To Flee Big Cities
USA Today
Remote work lets Americans continue to flee large cities for smaller towns even after the pandemic. “Maybe there isn’t going to be a rebound,” says Hamilton Lombard, a demographer at the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. “Maybe the rebound is over.”
'Inside Appalachia': Downstream Dangers of Coal Dust
wvpublic.org
Inside Appalachia talks with the creators of the Karsh Institute's new podcast, Crosswinds, about how residents of Norfolk and Newport News, Virginia, say airborne coal dust is coating their cars and houses—and getting into their lungs.
Community Conversation: Danait Haddish from Cville Tulips
NBC 29
Cville Tulips—a program from the Karsh Institute's Sound Justice Lab that supports refugee woman and children—was named a "philanthropy champion" by the Center for Nonprofit Excellence.
Karsh Institute Selected as Design for Freedom Pilot Project
Hanbury Design
In an inspiring commitment to social responsibility and ethical building practices, the Karsh Institute of Democracy building has been selected as a Design for Freedom Pilot Project. This initiative underscores the Institute’s commitment to embodying the principles of democracy, both in thought and infrastructure.
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