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California State University, Chico

Public Sphere Pedagogy

Public Sphere Pedagogy (PSP) embeds a "public sphere" in first-year courses, moving students from a typical classroom setting to a dialogue-rich environment. It focuses students' course reading, class discussion, and research efforts on contemporary public issues and places students in dialogue with diverse campus and community members. These public events provide students with opportunities to behave as adult participants in processes of dialogue and debate vital to the health of a democracy. PSP aims to increase students' sense of civic efficacy and personal responsibility. PSP students are more likely to persist to graduation than non-PSP students.

First-Year Experience collaborates with others in the development of civic engagement education. We work to contribute to students’ development and address the needs of our campus and community by taking John Dewey’s vision of public education to heart. This is accomplished through the use of Public Sphere Pedagogy and public events in first-year courses.

Events

  • Students talk amongst each other at the Town Hall Meeting.

    Town Hall Meeting

    The Town Hall Meeting (THM) is the oldest, most statistically proven, and most recognized PSP program on the CSU, Chico campus. The THM brings students, faculty, teaching associates, and the community together for intensive discussions about diverse, critical topics that are chosen by participating students. 

  • A team of presenters at the Sense of Place Symposium smile at the camera while standing in front of their posterboard.

    Sense of Place

    The Sense of Place Symposium on Connection (SOP) is a fantastic opportunity for many aspects of the Chico State campus and community to come together to learn from one another! Many people come together to help make this event possible, including faculty, teaching associates, student staff, and a variety of programs and groups from the campus and surrounding community. 

  • Three students sitting at a table during a poetry session.

    Chico Great Debate

    The Chico Great Debate (CGD) is our largest and longest event, and has been nationally recognized. In this toolkit, you will find information to help you in every conceivable area from publicity to moderator instructions. The CGD takes place over the course of 12 hours and incorporates a large number of students and community members.

Get Involved

We are looking for community members who can engage our students, offer positive and constructive feedback, and are willing to learn and incorporate student ideas into the work they do. Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions at fye@csuchico.edu.

Roles

  • Respondents

    Respondents are experts in an area related to the students’ topics, and their role is to actively listen and engage in student presentations while providing feedback. Respondents will ask questions about the students’ research and presentation that further engage them with the content, and students will ask respondents about their professional experience in the topic.

  • Moderators

    Moderators are often local teachers, Chico State or Butte College faculty, and POLS 155 TAs, and their role is to get all students involved in discussions and to support students in facilitating discussions. Some elements of the event are in larger groups (~25 students), and some elements are in smaller groups (~3-5 students), so the moderators support students in navigating their role in each element of the event to optimize student participation.

  • Consultants

    Consultants are experts in an area related to their assigned policy topic, and their role is to provide their professional experience to support students in developing realistic policy solutions. Consultants will often engage in discussions with smaller groups (~3-5 students), and being an active listener to student ideas is equally important to sharing knowledge and expertise.