Global Democracy Dialogues (GDD) provides secondary school and university students in the United States, Russia, Lithuania, and Poland with opportunities to hold open discussions or dialogues about democracy. Dialogue topics include the right to privacy, freedom of religion, freedom of expression, civic responsibilities, tolerance, and civic engagement.

In each five-week GDD project, teachers conduct guided discussions and facilitate class responses to questions about democracy and democratic procedures. Through this process, students learn about democracy while they explore, evaluate, negotiate, reach consensus, and articulate issue-oriented positions about democracy.

In the United States, Global Democracy Dialogues are facilitated in social studies classes. Polish, Russian, and Lithuanian students use English-language classes as a forum for GDD. Several Polish, Russian, and Lithuanian English-language classes are conducting GDD projects in conjunction with history and social-studies course work.

U.S. teachers who have participated in GDD projects find that students experience stronger incentives to learn about democracy when they are in contact with students in other countries.

Technical requirements for participating in Global Democracy Dialogues are minimal. Each participating class needs access to one computer with an Internet connection once or twice a week.
 
For more information about Global Democracy Dialogues, contact: