Dialoging for Democracy (2019)
Youth-Nex is celebrating 10 years and proud to host the 7th Youth-Nex Conference! #YouthAct19
On November 12-13th, 2019, the 7th Youth-Nex Conference, “Dialoging for Democracy: Youth Moral Reasoning and Social Justice” (#YouthAct19), will provide a forum for youth, practitioners, researchers, and policy makers across the country to participate in a robust discussion about whether contentious and contracted historical and contemporary social issues is necessary for the health of our democracy. During this conference we will explore how we engage with issues of human welfare and justice with young people, taking into account their developmental capacities and social identities. Young people themselves are actively making meaning of the world and leading the conversation in many areas of social change, including a number of issues on which youth themselves have pointed out the moral imperative for action (e.g., climate change, gun control, racial and economic justice, immigration). During this conference, participants will discuss the developmental underpinnings of moral reasoning, best practices for engaging adolescents in generative discourse that promotes the development of one’s moral reasoning, and examples of how this is applied in classroom and out-of-school settings to further democratic engagement. We hope you will join us for an engaging, critical discussion.
Conference Chairs: Johari Harris, Ph.D with Nancy Deutsch, Ph.D.
Download the full PDF of the program.
Download the PDF of presenters' bios.
A reception to celebrate Youth-Nex's 10th anniversary was also held. Check out photos from the event below!
Videos of the Conference
Photos of the Conference
Youth-Nex's 10th Anniversary Reception
Media Coverage
Read the articles written about our conference below:
- NBC29: UVA School of Education and Human Development Youth-Nex Center hold conference to support student activism
- Augusta Free Press: Youth-Nex hosting annual conference on dialogue, democracy
- Cavalier Daily: School of Education and Human Development program hosts two day symposium on dialogue and democracy
- UVA Today: Q&A: Understanding Adolescence in 2019
- EHD School News: Q&A: How Developing Moral Reasoning in Youth Helps Create a Better Democracy
On the left, check out the buzz generated on Twitter by the conference, using #YouthAct19!
About Youth-Nex
Youth-Nex, The UVA Center to Promote Effective Youth Development, is a trans-disciplinary center that aims to expand and apply the science of positive youth development to address fundamental challenges facing societies around the world.