Women's Civics Reading & Engagement Group

GROUP INTRO & ETHOS:
This is a study, civics, and reading accountability group for learned and unlearned women alike. Whether you're a knowledgeable, passionate leftist or someone who's undereducated on politics yet nevertheless protective of our democracy, you are warmly invited to join and learn with us.

The ethos of this group is educational--not punitive, not hostile, not conformist, and not egotistical. You will not be shamed as ignorant for not knowing things, for risking “dumb questions” (no such thing), or for demonstrating idiosyncratic thought. The only defining characteristics among us are that 1) we are against and make no excuses for MAGA—an unabashedly unconstitutional administration—and 2) we are concerned about how America’s post-Internet environment has degraded its standards for both professional journalism and public discourse. We're committed to deepening our reading and discussions to resist this degradation.

HOW 2-HR MEETINGS WORK:
~ We meet at the library and spend the first 30-45-min sharing in silent reading, utilizing either our own materials or newspapers and magazines available at the library. This reading warm-up serves our first goal: to protect time for civics-specific reading.
~ The second part of the meeting (approximately 75-90 minutes of the 2-hrs) we spend discussing the week's topic and our reflections on current events (sometimes unrelated to the week's topic, as digressions happen--but preferably related). Emphasis will be on policy-relevant events--not entertainment/popular culture or politicians' antic behaviors.
~ Many meetings will also include optional outside reading that will ground our topic for the day. For example, as our first subject will be how technology impacts public knowledge, the first author we will discuss will be Neil Postman, who famously wrote multiple books on this subject.
~ However, if you do not have time to read the author/book assigned for each meeting, you may select a relevant news article or research paper instead. Please just come with some (any!) facts and ideas about the week's topic to contribute. Our standards are not harsh; we simply encourage elaborative comments particular to the week's subject.

ADDITIONAL GOALS OF THIS GROUP:
1. Improve our information literacy by studying how to collect and dissect data intentionally/offensively, rather than passively and compulsively. Our study areas related to this purpose are likely to include: digital literacy, journalism, rhetoric, data analysis, research methods, scientific literacy, administration, basic statistics, et cetera.

2. Retrain and regain our attention spans by limiting/abstaining from the Internet scroll and LLM use in our daily lives. Those very committed to this goal can hold each other accountable to progress within meetings. Again, though, the goal here is not cultlike/pressuring--merely to improve our habits and self-control.

3. Those interested in increasing their civic engagement, such as through protest or policy advocacy, can organize through this group as well, and, certainly, the reading we do here should deepen our knowledge of the volunteer work we complete outside the group.