Foster Unity in our Dragon Community
Frustrated when liberals and conservatives call each other names, talk past each other, ignore each other, or worse? Have political tensions distanced you from people you care about? Would you like to foster unity in our Dragon community?
Participate in One Small Step! The MLWGS Library has partnered with the national One Small Step initiative from StoryCorps to organize conversations between Dragons with contrasting political perspectives.
This is NOT a forum for debate or persuasion. Instead, this is an opportunity to enhance your listening skills, deepen your connection with another Dragon, and earn community service hours. The sign-up window is from Feb. 10 to Feb. 24, 2021. Participants must attend a series of four related workshops (specific dates and times are on the sign-up form) before being matched with a conversation partner.
The sign-up form takes about 15 minutes to complete and includes a place where you introduce yourself to your future conversation partner in your own words. Here’s the link: http://bit.ly/onesmallstepMLWGS
Want to know a little more about the project? Watch this 7-minute video intro:
Understanding the U.S. Constitution
Considering the intense public discussion about various portions of the U.S. Constitution recently, you may want to refresh your understanding of all or part of it and read related annotations, essays, or scholarship.
Here are a few key resources you may find useful:
The Constitution Annotated: “In publication for over 100 years, The Constitution of the United States: Analysis and Interpretation – a.k.a., The Constitution Annotated or CONAN, is a comprehensive, government-sanctioned record of the interpretations of the Constitution.” For annotations, click the gray box in the upper right of each section. Cornell Law School has developed a version of CONAN organized in an outline of hyperlinks if you prefer that format.
Annenberg Guide to the U.S. Constitution – the text of the U.S. Constitution followed in each section by an interpretation of that section; a project of the Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, a nonpartisan communication policy center; policy-wise they lean progressive.
The Heritage Guide to the Constitution – the text of the U.S. Constitution accompanied by several essays that offer interpretations of each article as well as amendments; a project of The Heritage Foundation, a policy center not affiliated with a specific political party; their mission is to “promote conservative public policies.”
JSTOR’s Understanding the Constitution – an interface to the text of the U.S. Constitution with a section-by-section right margin that links directly to articles from JSTOR that cite that corresponding section. TIP: Log into your JSTOR account before using this tool so you can immediately access articles that interest you.
