What is a citizen?
What makes you a citizen? Is it more than a birthright? iCitizenForum spoke with educators Terrence Guay, Penn State University; Mike Hartoonian, University of Minnesota; Jim Davis, Social Science Education Consortium; and Ted Green, Webster University, to hear their thoughts on citizenship. Are you a citizen? Find out.
Flag Day Naturalization Ceremony - Part 1
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation welcomed nearly 100 new citizens during the inaugural Flag Day Naturalization Ceremony Saturday, June 14 on Courthouse Green in Williamsburg, Va. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Department co-sponsored the event.
Enlightened Citizenship and Divisive Argument
“Enlightened citizen” is redundant; a citizen understands the aesthetics of issues, according to Mike Hartoonian, University of Minnesota. Find out what he, Terrence Guay, Penn State University, and Jim Davis, Social Science Education Consortium, have to say about debate, democracy, and citizenship.
Young People as an Active Generation
Are young people better or worse citizens than other generations? Professor Ted Green, Webster University, says in general, younger people today haven’t been as vocal as earlier generations. Until now, that is. Green says the Internet has brought a growing acceptance of new ideas and of vocal protest and young people today are media savvy and eager to share their ideas. What do you think? Are young people more outspoken about citizenship?
One Nation/Two Nations
“…one nation under God, indivisible…”
Can you pledge allegiance to the flags of two nations and still be a loyal U.S. citizen?
WNBA player Becky Hammon takes Russian citizenship so she can play on the Russian national women’s basketball team in the 2008 Olympics.
A Latin America-born business traveler with triple citizenship renews his soon-to-expire Venezuelan passport so he can enter that country without experiencing “anti-American” animosity.
Citizenship Declaration - Group D (Powell House)
Draft "Declaration of Citizenship in the 21st Century," in association with Dialogues in Democracy: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Presented for Debate in the House of Burgesses, Williamsburg, Va., November 11, 2007.
We, the delegates of Powell Group D, resolve to reclaim the ideal of a citizen with both rights and responsibilities. These include:
Democracy, no spectator sport
The World Forum on the Future of Democracy in Williamsburg, Va., was a great opportunity to reflect on the nature of democracy and what we have learned in the project so far. If I were to take one message away from the World Forum it would be that democracy is no spectator sport. Through the course of the three-day conference we were reminded that a successful democracy requires the active participation of its citizens. A vital question that we have to grapple with in the 21st century is how to ensure this participation in a world where voting and citizen participation is declining.
