conversation

Table Talk for Togetherness

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By Sabrina

On a rainy Thursday evening, I trekked the 15 minute walk into unknown territory for a dinner. Nervous, but excited, I knocked on the door, cookies in hand, to meet our gracious host, McKenzie.

The apartment was decorated with Western Kentucky University paraphernalia, and an eager dog, Johnny greeted me.

Our dinner in Bowling Green, Kentucky was very relaxed with plentiful helpings of macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets. We gathered around on the couches and kitchen counters,  discussing majors, hometowns, and traveling.

McKenzie, our host, is a graduate student at Western Kentucky University. She is from a rural area outside of Louisville. Johnny, her dog, remained close to her side, and she shared with us her love for senior dogs. Mckenzie is the oldest of five in her family.

Hannah, another student in Honors 251, is studying to become a nurse anesthesiologist. Hannah is the youngest in her family, and both her older sister and brother also attended Western Kentucky University. Outgoing and friendly, Hannah talked about her cat she misses at home and her tight-knit group of friends she has made her at Western.

As we ate our meal, we discussed how our semester was going. McKenzie and I, both having communication in our degrees, discussed our favorite professors in the field. Mckenzie studied abroad in England at Harlaxton, saying she would love to live in England. After living in Kentucky for 23 years, she is ready to travel and go someplace new, but it will still be a few years, as she finishes school in 2019. Hannah and I both asked her many questions about study abroad, as I plan on studying abroad the Spring of 2018 in England at East Anglia University in Norwich. Hannah would like to go on some trips, but specifically a trip to Bolivia, where nursing students get the opportunity to help people with various medical needs.

When asked, “what does citizenship mean to you?” McKenzie pondered the thought for a while before responding. She concluded that it means helping each other out, as we are all here on this Earth, we might as well make it easier for each other. We get so wrapped into our own lives, but kindness and being helpful is a small thing that can make a huge difference. Hannah and I agreed. Hannah added that we all need to be kind to each other because we don’t know what is going on in people’s lives, and the harmony it gives can bring us all together. I added that citizenship is about community, and working to live well with people around us.

Jokingly, McKenzie asked “what does citizenship mean to you, Johnny?” Johnny, wagging his tail, stared up at Mckenzie, his eyes begging for food and attention. Throughout the dinner, he strutted around, eyeing plates of food, and even being adventurous enough to climb the couch and almost reach over to my plate on the table, but he proved to be slightly too short. “Is it about getting chicken nuggets?” she asked, feeding one to the now elated dog.

We asked each other how we liked living in Bowling Green, and we all agreed it is a nice place to live with low crime rates and things to do. Being from Nashville, I do get bored from time to time, and McKenzie agreed that she would like to live somewhere else eventually.

We discovered at the dinner that Hannah’s older sister and McKenzie knew each other beforehand, as Mckenzie has her Resident Assistant. Hannah was able to update Mckenzie on how her older sister was going, and they talked about an amazing trip her sister took to South Africa, full of helping people and animals, and petting wildlife.

From there, McKenzie talked about Johnny’s story. Johnny, her 10 year-old dog, was a fairly recent addition to her family, as her previous dog had passed away. Johnny was rescued from a Wal-Mart parking lot, where his previous owners had left him. The shelter took him in, and after being there for two months, Mckenzie decided to adopt him.

She asked us “Do either of you guys have dogs or pets at home?” to which i replied with my extensive story about our history of animals in the house, from cats to lizards. Both Mckenzie’s mom and my mom are not huge animal-lovers, so it was hard convincing our parents to let us have pets growing up.

Hannah has a cat, named Chunks, that was a birthday present a few years back. Her sister came across a litter of kittens, and was able to take some to care for, and Hannah fell in love with them.

While our conversations seemed relatively basic in writing, I found it interesting how our lives tied together in certain ways, and how easily conversation flowed among us. It truly demonstrated to me that people of various ages, majors, backgrounds, can sit down and still have a peaceful and enjoyable dinner. We helped each other throughout the dinner as well, by sharing our thoughts, giving tips about certain classes and professors, and showing enthusiasm for opportunities others had.

By doing this, we demonstrated our own sense of citizenship by being kind to each other. We each brought food for the others, provided each other transportation, and our host graciously opened up her house to the community.

I think doing events like this reminds us that we are a community and we work best when we get along with each other and take others’ lives into account. Hannah could have chosen not to give me a ride to the dinner, McKenzie could have chosen not to open up her home, each of us could have chosen not to bring food. All of these things are small things that didn’t take much effort, but show kindness and is simply a mannerly way of living in society. Community involves looking out for each other and putting aside differences and ultimately understanding other perspectives to better our relationships with other people in our community who may be different from us.

Our whole dinner and this assignment relates to one of our central questions in class, “How do we live well (or at least somewhat better) together?” Individually, each person has their own array of gifts and talents, as well as their own backgrounds and cultures. By working together, communities can strengthen each other and make the atmosphere we all live in more harmonious.

The Kentucky Kitchen Table dinner reminded me of one of our readings we did near the beginning of the semester by Keith Melville, called “How We Talk Matters.” Melville discusses how we shouldn’t be against each other, as we all live in this world together, which related to how our table views citizenship. It is not an “us versus them” mentality that we should have. We discussed issues rationally, and genuinely listened to each other’s thoughts and ideas, and built off of each other. Not only is this a more productive approach to talking about issues within our community, but it was a more sincere and thoughtful conversation, and demonstrated warmth and care for each other.
I was nervous going into the assignment, and part of me was dreaded it as I didn’t know the people I would be having dinner with, and I am generally shy around new people. However, the conversation seemed to run smoothly and while we have different interests and beliefs, we managed to find common-ground and had an enjoyable evening full of food and good conversation.  

Alissa’s Kentucky Kitchen Table

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By Alissa

For my Kentucky Kitchen Table assignment, Dr. Youngblood and Dr. Watkins kindly offered their kitchen table in Bowling Green to Margee and I. Going around the table, those in attendance were Dr. Youngblood, Dr. Watkins, Emily, Margee, Dimitri, AJ, and I. All of us have a connection to WKU, either attending the university as a freshman student or as faculty. Dimitri, Margee, and I found out that we are all originally from Louisville, Kentucky. AJ is from Hopkinsville, Kentucky and Emily is from Glasgow, Kentucky. Margee is a girl with a rather bubbly personality and is a psychological science major. She is in the Kappa Delta sorority on campus, in fact she holds an office position in her sorority, and is very passionate about working in the community for their service projects. Dimitri is a gay, nonbinary person who prefers the pronouns they/them. They are very passionate about social issues, especially with regards to the LGBT+ community, and about mental health issues. They are also a psychological science major and found out that they share a class with Margee. AJ is a rather quiet person who enjoyed entertaining Dr. Youngblood’s dog, Hazel. He is a psychology major here at WKU. Emily is an African-American girl who loves Korean pop music and is an English major. Dr. Youngblood is a professor in the English department and is also the moderator of the KPCC- the Korean pop culture club here on campus. Dr. Watkins teaches another section of Honors 251 in the Honors College. Last but not least, I am a chemistry major with a criminology minor. I have a twin sister who I share a dorm room with, and I am also an aromantic asexual, meaning I don’t experience either romantic or sexual attraction.

During the dinner we talked about a variety of things, including what citizenship meant to all of us. Most of us responded by discussing how feeling like a part of a group is necessary to citizenship and how being willing to be a citizen and act is also necessary. Other things that we talked about centered around traveling and comparing customs from other countries to the ones we have here in the United States. We also discussed our high school experiences, since all of us graduated about a year ago. Dimitri and I both attended private, single-gendered high schools while Margee attended a public high school in the same city. We talked about the positives and negatives of attending single-gender high schools versus attending public high schools, and how we thought our respective high schools prepared us for college. Dimitri expressed how they wished they could have attended one of the all female schools instead of an all male high school because everything turned into a masculinity contest. I brought up how it seemed that the girls who attended an all female school would speak up more in class, especially if there were more males enrolled in the class. Margee and Dr. Watkins both agreed with my observation, saying that they had noticed that as well.

I learned that while it was slightly awkward to discuss things like citizenship with people I don’t know all that well, doing it over dinner made it easier. I also learned that while people can be very diverse, you can find similarities and connect with just about anyone if you are willing. All of us arrived at the dinner not knowing much about one another, but we managed to connect through our discovery of shared hometowns, desire to travel/past travelling experiences, and music tastes to name a few.

To me this assignment really connected to the reading, “Giving Employers What They Don’t Really Want” not only because a large part of our conversation discussed education, but because one of the things that the article discussed was how employers want to hire people with good communication skills. We all had to talk to each other, face-to-face, and effectively communicate the point that we were trying to make to people who weren’t necessarily the same as us. That, in turn, fits with the first central question to the class: How can we live well together? A major factor affecting how we live together is whether we can communicate effectively with people who are similar to us as well as with people who are different.

 

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KKT Brandenburg, Kentucky

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By Hannah

            My Kentucky Kitchen Table (KKT) was held in Brandenburg, Kentucky. It was a family based, relaxed dinner. The people who participated in my KKT were three of my aunts, two of my uncles, and my parents. Although it seems like I would know my relatives well enough to not have a great discussion, I had not seen most of them for a year or so. My family usually catches up on an annual basis, so a lot of my aunts and uncles are almost strangers to me.

            I had a diverse group of generations and individual differences at my KKT. My aunt, Ellen, is an avid runner and currently works for a government agency. She is in her 40’s and is single. My uncle, Wally, is married to Irene. They are both retired and enjoying spending time with their children and grandchildren. My other uncle, George, is married to Kim, and are in a similar position as Wally and Irene. They are both retired, and they have four grandchildren to give their love to. My father is an employee at Jim Beam (as was George) and is soon set to retire. My mother works at our county’s UK Extension Office where she loves teaching adults and children about nutrition and healthy lifestyles.

            To start off the conversation, I asked an easy question to ease some nerves, “do you know your neighbors?” Wally, Irene, George, and Kim live in a subdivision. They said that they do know their neighbors. It seemed like they knew them mostly on a ‘hey, how are you?’ basis rather than a personal level. Ellen lives in Louisville and said that she knew almost everyone on her block. My parents live in the country compared to our relatives. They know one of neighbors well and talk to him weekly. The other neighbor they do not know as well. Overall, it seemed like there was always someone in the neighborhood that they did not get along with or personally know. I found this to be an interesting similarity because we all live in a different type of neighborhood structure. I asked them a follow-up question – is there anything you could do to help your neighbors? Kim said that she should probably join the neighborhood association to try to improve things where they live. Ellen seemed to have an idea pop up at that moment. She stated that she should stop fighting with her elderly neighbor about him cutting tree branches off. All of the solutions given were relatively simple fixes. I think that question got them to consciously think about what they can do to help other people. It seemed that they never had thought about that before which was very intriguing to me. I did not prod any further even though I wish I would have.

            I gave them another question to discuss which was, “do you think you have any moral obligations to others?”. I was thinking that they would be stumped by the question, but it was quite the opposite. Every person seemed to be passionate about their response. Some of the responses that were agreed upon were to respect others. They said that we all live together and that we need to be accepting of one another. References to the bible were made at this point and ‘be kind to thy neighbor’ was stated. I was pleasantly surprised at all of their positive and kind responses. I figured their age would factor into that question, but my responses lined up to theirs. A prominent theme of the dinner was brought up by an answer to this question. George stated that we have an obligation to make a difference in the world. That answer came with a quick, “but some people have more opportunities to make a difference in the world than others”. I found this to be an interesting statement that I did not think too much about until writing this reflection. It encouraged me to think if this is a true statement or not.

            Being concerned about George’s response, I asked the group if they volunteer anywhere. Sadly, the answers were not what I wanted to hear. Volunteering is something that I hold close to my heart, and I continue to volunteer even when my schedule is busy. Giving back to people in need is something that if everyone did it, there would be no person in need. So even though I agree with George that we all have an obligation to make a difference in the world, I do not think we all have different opportunities to do so. Any good difference one can make is a difference made. I encouraged them to go and volunteer their time. Most of them are retired and abled to help people in need. A few days after the dinner, my dad told me that Ellen and George texted him and told him that the conversation we had made them think of how to help others. Being involved in one’s community can help broaden one’s view on others.

            If we begin to open our minds and listen to others equally, a lot of conflict can be avoided. Selfishness and ignorance is at the root of many conflicts. This is similar to one central idea of HON 251, which is how do we communicate well with others. I am a strong believer that serving others is the best way to understand other people’s hardships and meet people you otherwise wouldn’t meet. By actively learning about other people’s viewpoints and experiences, one can begin to have high quality communication skills. Better communication can also lead to addressing shared problems as well as having more say over our lives, which are the other two central ideas of HON 251.

            I can relate this particular topic of serving others to Jane Addams’ writing called “The Snare of Preparation”. Addams discusses how she spent most of her time planning on helping others and the details of it. She spent most of the time preparing to help instead of acting. Addams realizes at one point when walking down the street that the problem of poverty is all around her, yet she has not done anything to help it. The people attending my KKT seemed to be in the same slump that Addams was in. They are all passionate about social issues and getting involved with associations, yet they have not put forth any action to do so.

            When asked, “what does being a citizen mean to you (other than voting)”, I received some interesting responses. Our discussion before this question had an impact on their answers as one response was to serve and help others. Another response was that citizens need to try and protect the environment we are in. We never got into environmental issues, but I liked this response. I think you could make a valid argument that protecting the environment for future citizens is an important role of being a citizen. Another response was getting more involved with local politics and making your voice heard by writing letters to the government. I encouraged them to make their voices heard because the government can’t make high quality decisions on wicked problems without hearing other people’s experiences and viewpoints. Research and facts can help with wicked problems, but personal experiences can help figure out better possible ‘solutions’ for wicked problems. I hope that this KKT has encouraged them to voice their opinions and get involved.

            An interesting conclusion made at the KKT was that no one eats dinner around a kitchen table anymore. Everyone (except for me) grew up eating around the dinner table as a family. When they were growing up, it was a different time without many of the distractions that we have today. I grew up eating dinner on a tv tray watching TV, and I hardly ever ate at the dinner table. Everyone else said that now they only eat at the kitchen table when there is company over. It seems like in our everyday life, we have strayed from having face to face conversations. Many do not seem to have the unique, enlightening conversations with other people in this modern world. The American culture has shifted more and more towards individualism. We tend to pay attention to only what our opinions are and ignore the opposing side. This causes a polarization that is hard to reverse. This polarization is what is making it hard to communicate well with others. Not listening or understanding other peoples’ viewpoints makes it hard for a democracy to exist.

            In conclusion, I have been encouraging my dad to keep in contact with his siblings more than he is used to. I think making him invite his siblings to this KKT made him realize how enjoyable talking to one another is. I enjoyed hosting a KKT and hope to host similar dinners with family and friends in the future. I think hosting this KKT has made an impact on a few of my family members and myself. Conversation is a powerful tool that is going obsolete in a world of technology. Hopefully, I can encourage people to put down the electronics (not just during meal times) and have enlightened conversations.

KKT

 

Citizenship and What It Means to Both the Old and the Young

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By AbigailIMG_1742

My Kentucky Kitchen Table project, held in Owensboro, KY, provided a chance for me to learn from several different people about their role in society. It was interesting to hear all of the different perspectives and how the perspectives changed based on the age of the dinner guests. The dinner consisted of Kassandra, Jeff, Allison, Avery, Nijha, Rose, Isabella, Donny, and me. Kassandra is my hardworking mother. She provided the entire meal for the dinner because she wanted to try out a new recipe that she had seen. She made spinach lasagna and garlic bread. She also provided a beautiful strawberry cake for dessert. Interestingly enough, each of the guests helped in setting up for the dinner by laying place mats out, filling cups with ice and water, and putting silverware out. It was nice to see an element of “citizenship” playing out even before the dinner started. Jeff is my dad. He is 46 years old and works as a maintenance manager for Alcoa. Both Allison and Avery are my sisters. Allison is a college student at a local university and Avery is in high school. Avery brought a friend named Isabella. They do not go to the same high school, but met in middle school where they have remained friends since. Isabella brought her friend from her high school, Nijha. Nijha comes from a single parent household and she is biratial. My grandmother, Rose, lives in a government funded housing complex in the center of our city. She brought one of her friends from her housing complex named Donny. Donny is an U.S. army veteran. While I went into the dinner wanting to get my questions answered, I felt that our conversations sparked a more meaningful purpose for the dinner.

As we all sat down with our plates of lasagna and garlic bread, I started to ask some questions. Each member of the dinner came to the dinner with the understanding that they would be answering questions for a project of mine and so they were all prepared to give thoughtful responses to the questions I had. I asked each person the required question, “Beyond voting, paying taxes, and following laws, what does citizenship mean to you?” Interestingly enough, there was a stark contrast between the answers of the high-school aged members and the older members. Isabella said, “[Citizenship means] you’re apart of the country and happy to follow to rules.” Nijha, who seemed shy at first, said “[citizenship is] doing good for others even when no one is watching.” Where as Donny said, “You’ve given everything you could and now you get to receive.” He was directly referring to social security in his response. Rose agreed with Donny and said that she feels that she has less of an impact on society as an older person than “you young people have.”

However the topic that dominated our discussion was that of social issues and the root of all social issues. I asked both Allison and Kassandra which social issue is closest to their heart and why and while their answers were different, they both fell under a similar theme. Kassandra responded, “Abortion because it’s a direct assault against God’s character.” And Allison noted, “Divorce is the social issue closest to my heart because it results in the division of families.” Kassandra later went on to talk about how she believed that many social issues were rooted in a citizen’s home life. I brought up the issue of drug use and how it seems that no matter what we do, drug use will always be a problem. Kassandra felt that drug use begins because of a lack of stability at a young age. Each person began to try and create “mini solutions” for current social problems. And as each person talked about social issues that weighed heavy on their hearts, it almost because discouraging. Similar to our discussions in class about wicked problems, each member of the dinner began to understand the complexity of most of the issues and how the issues seem almost impossible to correct. I explained that in my class, we discussed that their are some issues that are so complex that they can almost never be solved. As Jeff reflected on what we can do to solve some of these problems he said, “[It is our] responsibility to attribute to the common good.” This seemed to resonate with most of the members of the dinner.

The most interesting take away for me were the differences in perspective (and in turn, answers) based on the members’ age. While almost everyone at the table seemed to bring something a little unique simply because we’re human, the older members were more conservative and viewed their citizenship as something that is not as prevalent anymore. It is almost as if they’ve given all they need to, and now it is time for them to sit back and reap the benefits of their hard work. However the younger members all responded in ways that seemed to define their citizenship as an active duty.

I also learned that situations are only awkward if you make up your mind that they will be. I was so afraid leading up to the dinner that I would put my foot in my mouth, or that someone would feel uncomfortable, but everyone seemed to be at ease and there was no awkward silence. Because I knew that Isabella would be bringing a friend that I did not know, I was afraid that the friend would feel uncomfortable or awkward. It turned out that Nijha was incredibly friendly and brought unique and interesting ideas to the discussion. Similarly, Donny, whom I had seldom met but once, was very vocal when it came to our discussion. He was eager to explain his own opinions, but also ready to hear what others had to say. It demonstrated to me the importance of putting myself out there in situations that I may deem as uncomfortable. Ultimately, how are we going to learn anything if we’re not willing to put ourselves in uncomfortable positions?

I felt that the dinner was putting everything we’ve covered in class into reality. We’ve talked about listening to others’ opinions and we’ve discussed how to learn from other people even when you don’t agree. There were times during the dinner where I felt frustrated with a guest’s answer or response, but then I realized that it was my job to listen and hear their point of view. As soon as I could free myself up to do just that, I felt myself understanding that person so much more. Even my own dad and I had differing opinions on current social issues, but we were able to listen to one another and acknowledge where the other one was coming from. That, in essence, is what citizenship is – Being able to work together and understand where someone else may be coming from.

Kentucky and Tacos

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By Victoria

KKT pic

The Kentucky Kitchen Table that I attended was in Bowling Green, Kentucky, right outside from Western Kentucky University’s campus. Grace, Gage, and I (all students in the Honors 251 Citizen and Self class) were invited to attend dinner at Leah’s house; Leah is the director for the center of citizenship and social justice. Gage and I happened to pull up to the driveway right behind each other; he is in an earlier citizen and self class than I am. Grace, on the other hand, is many a times my partner when it comes to discussions in our 251 class. When the three of us arrived, we were introduced to her husband who works in construction, her three daughters; Makenna who is a senior in high school, Katie who is a freshman in high school, and Riley who is also a freshman in high school, and Cole who is Makenna’s boyfriend, also currently a senior in high school. All together, there were nine people at this Kentucky Kitchen Table.
Even though the three of us had not previously met this family, it was not too awkward upon entering their home. I felt very welcomed, not to mention that the tacos we had for dinner were very good. The conversation formed on its own, with questions being asked about where we were all from and some of our interests. Leah grew up in Bowling Green, whereas her husband grew up in the north, later moving to Bowling Green. Makenna, the oldest daughter there, is planning on attending Western in the fall, with her boyfriend planning on working on a farm. Grace is originally from Evansville, Indiana, and Gage is originally from Kentucky, with myself representing East Tennessee

After our miniature introductions, the three of us asked the required question for this project: “Beyond voting, paying taxes, and following laws, what does citizenship mean to you?” Leah’s husband responded first, saying that for him, citizenship meant being more involved in one’s community, such as volunteering. During the first part of our discussion, it was a little hard to get the conversation moving, which is expected since all of us did not know each other, though I think this really added to our experience. The next response was from Leah, which was probably one of the best of the night. She mentioned the right of protesting, specifically concerning the protests of the recent election. She said, “Engaging in citizenship means to try and make or bring about changes in your community, for example, through marches or protests. She proceeded to say that this is the most active that she has seen citizens become in cities, particularly with the younger generations for the past few decades or maybe even ever.” Some of the girls in the family agreed on saying that there are some rights that you have earned as a citizen, such as having a house, having a school, and having a recycling bin.

The next question that we asked was “Do you think we have any other obligations to people in our community?” Katie, who is one of the freshmen daughters here in Bowling Green, mentioned homelessness. She said “It is not the people who are homeless’ fault that they do not have a place to live, and because of that we should help them because it is the right thing to do.” As a group, we all agreed that we, as citizens of the United States, do have a responsibility to help others in our community.

After the question concerning helping others in our community, we asked the family what social issue is closest to their hearts. The topic of hunger was brought up, and it was mentioned that while the problem of world hunger needed to be addressed specifically in third-world countries, we need to also focus on the situation here at home in the United States, and even on a more local level, like the community of Bowling Green. Leah said that this is especially seen in public schools with free and reduced lunch programs. Children who meet the requirements to receive such services are sometimes sent home with food for the night and for the duration of the weekends. However, this food is often times hardly adequate enough to last when it is to be split between siblings.

The next question concerned what we did and did not like about Bowling Green, Kentucky. One of the things that I said was how much it felt more like a community to me compared to some of the other universities that I visited. One of the stories that I told regarding why I came to Western aside from the Chinese Flagship program was on account of this welcoming feeling, specifically seen when I met with my advisor. He really personalized the time my family and I spent with him, going over possible classes for my schedule and the different requirements needed for a Spanish major, and he was genuinely interested in the questions we asked and what we had to say, making me and my family feel that my experience at Western would be more individualized and less like a statistic. Leah also commented that she liked how the Bowling Green community was also a refugee resettlement community, and how that added to the diversity on Western’s campus and throughout the city. All in all, there were no negative comments about this community.

Overall, I really enjoyed this project. At first the idea of eating dinner with many people whom I did not know so well was a bit daunting, but it was definitely a worth-while experience. I think one of the over-arching ideas that I learned from this was that no matter how different everyone is, whether that be their age, their ideas, their education level, their political stance, or their socioeconomic stance, we are still able to come together as a community to have a civilized discussion around a dinner table. In today’s modern society, particularly in the younger generation, I think that the skills needed to participate in an activity like this are slowly being diminished. Participating in the KKT definitely enables you to work on your people skills and be willing to hear other peoples’ opinions even though you may not agree with them.

Another aspect that I found very insightful from this process was hearing everyone’s opinions on various issues with regards to their life experiences. I always enjoyed listening to Leah give her ideas and opinions since she worked at the center of citizenship and social justice. I learned a bit more about what the center stands for and some of their purposes. I also thought it was interesting listening to what the high schoolers had to say in regards to certain issues. Referring back to the need for younger people (including college age students) to have more experience in communication, I think one of the reasons it was a little awkward was because we are so used to communicating with people through technology, without having to take into account body language and improvising the conversation, rather than having some time to think about what you are going to say before you send it or tell it.

Obviously, the Kentucky Kitchen Table experience largely relates to the citizen and self class, along with some of the readings. One aspect of the class that I relate the Kentucky Kitchen Table to is the bridge metaphor. On the far left side of the bridge is where we are in today’s society, on the far right side is where we would like to be in today’s society, and then the bridge itself is the journey to meet the goal. As students, we started out on the far left side of the bridge, with the goal on the far right side being to be a fully engaged, model citizen. The Kentucky Kitchen Table is one of the events on the journey to becoming a model citizen that is on the bridge. Therefore, through activities like this, we are able to better ourselves as citizens.

In addition, one of the readings in particular, Jane Addams’ The Snare of Preparation, relates to the Kentucky Kitchen Table. In this article, Jane talks about the fault that preparing so much has, that being someone who spends so much time preparing for an event or for action, but never actually follows through after the preparations or does not spend an adequate amount of time acting. I see the preparing proportion of this as the time spent in the citizen and self class, preparing ourselves on how to effectively deliberate with others and how to be a better citizen in general. However, simply learning the “how-to’s” is not enough until you have put what you have learned into practice. An example of this would be to participate and organize deliberations in your own community, to become more active in your community through volunteering and voting in local elections, and to even host or organize more events like the Kentucky Kitchen Table.

In conclusion, I think that this experience was very beneficial in understanding the class more, and it also helped in making connections with people in the Bowling Green community. Furthermore, it solidified some of the key points in the citizen and self class, like the bridge metaphor. Hearing other people’s opinions and thoughts concerning what citizenship means to them and how they view controversial issues was also insightful, making this a memorable experience.

Coming Together as a Community

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 kkt


By Hannah

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to participate in a Kentucky Kitchen Table, where six of us sat around a table and discussed citizenship and other issues globally. We had our Kentucky Kitchen Table at Chili’s, a restaurant at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, KY. There were six of us there, all of us with different backgrounds and studying different majors. Ryan was the host of our group. He is from Owensboro, KY and a junior at WKU studying accounting. There was Mahesan, who is from Clarksville, TN, and also a junior. He is studying biochemistry at WKU and plans to go to medical school once he graduates. Then there was Jill, who is from Louisville and a freshman currently studying music, but she is looking to change her major next year. Jill is also a vegan, which is something very interesting that I had the opportunity to learn what that entailed. Next, there was Thomas. He is a senior at WKU and graduating this year with an exercise science degree. He is from Brandenburg, KY and looking to becoming a clinical exercise physiologist once he graduates. The next person is Anne, who is also a freshman at WKU. She is from Frankfort, KY, and studying philosophy. Although Anne is not a vegan, she is a vegetarian since she came to college, and she loves it. Lastly, there was myself. I am a junior at WKU, and from a small little town by the name of Madisonville, KY. I am a biology and chemistry double major, and planning on attending dental school, preferably at the University of Louisville, to become a dentist.

Honestly, I was a little nervous of how the night was going to go. I am sometimes a shy, quiet person that does not care to talk very much with other people that I do not really know. I was more nervous of how the conversation would go if there were any awkward pauses where no one really had anything to say or add to the conversation. However, once we got there, it was very natural to talk to everyone, especially when Anne was from my Honors 251 class, and Mahesan and I have had several of our major science classes together since sophomore year. Knowing these two in addition to Thomas, made the evening go much smoother than expected. It was also great to get to know Ryan, Jill, and Anne more. I learned a lot about them and took a lot of what they had to say throughout the dinner. It was great to talk to people that I would have never talked to or met here while at Western, and it was great to see everyone’s different perspectives. It was also natural for me to have dinner around the table because my family has always done that when I was growing up. Every night, my mom would cook dinner as I helped, and we would have dinner together as a family, taking about our days and what we learned at school or church if it was Sunday. Although we do not do that as much because of the busyness of our schedules and the fact that I have moved to college, I still remember those days and miss them. I have such great memories sitting around a table and just talking with my family.

The first question that we asked each other was the question, “Beyond voting, paying taxes, and following laws, what does citizenship mean to you?” This was a great question to start out with because it allowed us to break the ice as well as carry the conversation onto other topics throughout dinner. The overall agreement of the group was that being a good citizen means being a good person and caring about others. Citizenship is working together towards a common goal, putting others’ needs ahead of your own, and building a community of people. Thomas made a good point that people were more like this in the past. Neighbors cared for one another and people and communities interacted with one another more compared to now. Due to technology, people, especially our generation, have become more self-centered through texting and emailing. We do not have to speak with each other face to face anymore if we do not want to. We can limit our relationships with others and just focus on ourselves if we desire to. In addition to this, technology causes discrepancies in communication. We have misunderstanding because of the lack of body language and mannerisms. I have experienced this in my own life when texting others. I mean to say one thing, but the other person thinks that it means something else because they could not see my facial expressions or hear my tone of voice. Although technology is great and has many positive aspects, there are also drawbacks to it where it takes the personal connection away from relationships. Ryan concluded that people are all naturally good. We choose to help others in our own way in which we think is best. However, there is always something to learn from the generations before us because they have been where we are. We cannot ignore their wisdom and personal experiences.

This discussion led us to talk about another question: “What do you think are the best things about our world today?” Ryan answered this question first looking at the world from an analytical and economic viewpoint. The standard of living has greatly increased compared to the past. People and countries have become more economically stable. However, as Jill pointed out, the increase in the standard of living does not necessarily make people around the world happier. There are still so many people without necessities to live or do not have basic human rights. This brought up the question of do we raise the standard of living first or do we focus on giving people their basic human rights. Will giving people their basic human rights raise the standard of living, or will raising the standard of living give people their human rights? We came to the conclusion that this is a very wicked problem that does not have any one correct answer. For me personally, giving people around the world human rights seems out of reach. I don’t understand how that can ever happen because of the communications and agreements that would have to be made among so many countries together. I do not see how relationships between The United States and the Middle Eastern countries can ever be mended because we are in such conflict with each other currently. However, we concluded that if we each do our small part in the community, we can have such a great impact on others on an everyday basis. We are unable focus on international issues, but we do have the opportunity to focus on our own communities. 

If we come together as a community, we can do so much good in the world. I learned through this experience that people who are random strangers can have a calm, rational conversation even if we disagree on some things. This is what people across the nation need to take a part in, especially when discussing major wicked problems in our own nation as well as across the world. Learning this also relates to what we have been talking about in our Honors 251 class throughout the semester. It reminds me of the article we read of “How We Talk Matters” by Keith Melville. He writes in this article that how we talk truly matters.We need to speak calmly and rationally with others whom we do not agree with. We need to see their point of view and see where they are coming from because we all have our own personal experiences that we have gone through. What we talked about at dinner also reminded me of the articles we read about the environmental case study and the wicked problem of saving our plant from carbon emissions. I learned through these readings, or deliberation in class, and what we discussed at our Kentucky kitchen table, that even if we cannot make a huge difference personally around the world, we can make a difference in our own communities. We can change our habits and the way we think about ourselves and the community. We can truly impact others positively just by talking with them and forming a relationship with them. If we take the time to understand where they are coming from through their experiences and to learn their point of view, we might be able to actually learn something new and see things in another way that we would have never considered. Not only will this allow us to become good citizens, it will also give us the opportunity to become people that care about others and put others’ needs before their own. Through this experience, I hope to take what I have learned and use it in my everyday life now as well as in the future.

Big Ideas in Small-Town U.S.A.

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By Hannah

My Kentucky Kitchen Table meal took place in my home in a small-town, located in far eastern Kentucky, called London, Kentucky. This town is my hometown so I was very excited with the opportunity to host this meal here. In attendance to the meal was Ethan, Lyndsee, Delaney, Molly, and Carrie. Ethan is a graduate of the University of Cumberlands and is currently a teacher at Corbin Middle School in Corbin, Kentucky. He is also a member of the band Frontier, LLC. and their albums are available on iTunes and Spotify. Lyndsee is a sophomore at the University of Kentucky and is pursuing her career as a veterinarian. She is a member of the pre-veterinarian club and is also currently a residential hall assistant on campus in Donovan Hall. Delaney is a sophomore at the University of Kentucky, pursuing her physical therapy degree and is the academic chairperson of Delta Zeta. She also is a member of the pre-physical therapy association. Molly is a current student at Somerset Community College and is pursuing her degree as a dental hygienist. She is working currently at Hometown Bank as a bank teller. Carrie is a student at the University of Cumberlands, pursuing her accounting degree. She is the current accounting intern at ABC Automotive Systems Incorporation.

For the meal, I wanted to provide a home-cooked meal for my guests that I prepared myself, as I love to partake in cooking. I prepared the main entrees and desserts for the meal and then had my guests to provide their favorite appetizers. The meal was set to start at seven o’clock and after we had dined, I started the discussion. When asked the required question of beyond voting, paying taxes, and following laws, what citizenship meant to each of them personally, there was an anonymous understanding that citizenship means that we are all part of something more in this world together. We are all a part of something bigger than ourselves that we can relate to. Citizenship is part of our identity and it includes our freedoms and liberties and how we interact with others and our community, not just nationally, but locally as well. Ethan was very interested in the question of if he sees his job as relating to his role as a citizen. As a history teacher in the critical growth stage of middle school, he felt very strongly that his job does relate to his role as a citizen. This made me think of the Nussbaum reading, “Not for Profit” because he related it to how he feels education should equip students to see themselves as “citizens of the world rather than merely Americans”, and that personally is his role as a teacher. He feels that it is his job to introduce to his students what it truly means to be a citizen and reflect this through his lessons that he provides. Lyndsee also felt very strongly about this question as she is a residential hall assistant on a university campus. She experiences everyday trials that students must face now that they are living on their own, instead of being dependent upon their parents. She feels that her role is critical in helping freshmen students to make this transition more smoothly into the world as an adult. When discussing what kind of community they desired to live in, Ethan brought up how he desires to live in a more isolated area, for peace and quiet in a busy world, while Molly wants to live in an area where everybody knows everybody and the neighborhood is more like family. Ethan brought up that this difference could be attributed to how he grew up in a neighborhood where he did not personally know his neighbors, while Molly added that her viewpoint could be because she did grow up in a community where she knew all her neighbors and most of them were even her family.  Delaney brought up her personal experience of moving from a small-town community, where she knew all her neighbors, to Lexington, where she hardly knew anyone and the isolation that she felt from this transition. After getting involved in her sorority though, she started to feel more at home and not as isolated, but compared the two different atmospheres as being opposites and a difficult transition at first. This made me reflect on how there may be numerous internal struggles that my classmates may be facing on the inside that we cannot see from the outside.

When asked if our religious or spiritual identity relates to how we should treat other people, Carrie said yes and went on to say that it also can be related to how we are raised and could become innate from our upbringing. This related to our study on “The Righteous Mind” by Jonathan Haidt about the elephant and the rider. Our first initial reactions to other people may be related to what our elephants first think, in this case our upbringing. We also discussed how we do have obligations to other people in our country. At this point, I brought up the question if this includes if we also have the responsibility to take care of other people in our country. This question was hard for my guests to answer, just like it was in class. Delaney ended up stating that it is not our responsibility necessarily, because if a person does not do something we personally believe to be right, it does not mean that they are wrong, but it should be our obligation as the race of humans to be looking out for one another. Ethan added in that he does believe that his religious identity relates to how he treats other people because as a Christian, the Bible states to take care of the widows and the orphans, so he feels called to try to the best of his ability to treat everyone equally and help whenever he can. When discussing advice that we would give to people running for office in our country, it was a central theme that we needed to have more respect for one another. Lyndsee stated that she felt very bothered when seeing derogatory commercials of our presidential candidates stating mean things about the other. She also talked about how we should try and stop focusing so much on which “party” we belong to because it is creating more division than it should be. This reminded me of the article by Keith Melville, “How We Talk Matters,” because he wrote about how this world is not about “us vs. them. We’re all us.” There was an overall frustration that was voiced about how politics are currently. Lyndsee talked about how when the presidential debates were being aired, they held a viewing party in her dorm lobby and the students got so upset by the opposing views that the students all started to yell at each other and ultimately, the party ended up being cancelled and one student ran from the room, bursting into tears. This also reminded me of our discussions about how it is difficult for people to discuss hard issues like this and how often, it can lead to conflicts like what Lyndsee faced, leading two groups of people to be divided against each other. She also discussed about her experience thus far as a residential hall assistant and how she talks to people from all over the world of different origins and religions. She tries to relate to each person individually, aware of their diverse backgrounds and how she personally can learn something unique from each of her residents. When discussing if there is anything that we can do to make things better for our neighbors and where we live, Delaney brought up how she desires to be more friendly and open with her neighbors that she is not close with and it was even discussed how we desire to start more events for our neighbors to participate in together. Molly added that she knew of a neighborhood that would host a potluck every week, with a new family hosting weekly. This was not necessarily a time to visit for the neighbors, but a day that busy families could relax and not have to worry about preparing dinner for a night. It was a way that they could all help with the burden of a busy life together. Her story made me reflect on how we are all in this busy life together and that we can individually do things for one another that can help ease the stress and complications that we face, simply by in this case, preparing a meal once a week for others. This was what struck me and opened my eyes because I was doing this personally for my guests as well. Even though we may sometimes feel like we are a small human being in a big world and our impact does not matter, this is not the case. We can impact our world, communities, and friends in ways that we do not know and possibly, cannot see. Having this discussion in a way that was respectful and meaningful showed me how it can be possible and successful to have a conversation with others who have different experiences and backgrounds than you. Even though I went into this assignment feeling that I was going to teach my guests something, it was rather them who taught me.

Culture and Citizenship

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By Andrew J.

This dinner took place in Bowling Green, Kentucky at my German Professors house. For dinner, Laura provided the schnitzel, salad and potatoes, but we had to cook them together in small groups. I did, however, bring chocolate as a gift to Laura for hosting this dinner, and Alex brought two pies as dessert. The dinner was attended by Laura, Heike, Julia, Alex, Ryan, Carlos, Maggie, Eric, Jack and I. Laura is my German professor and the department head of modern languages at Western Kentucky University. Heike is an English teacher from Germany who had come over with her students to Bowling Green for a few weeks. Julia is an instructor of Russian at Western Kentucky University. My classmates are of a diverse background as well. Carlos is a Mexican-American from Indiana who is studying mechanical engineering and German, and Maggie is a Chinese-American who is studying German and Chinese in order to be a translator after college. Ryan is studying German and Computer Science, and Alex is studying German and International Business. Erin is studying German and International Business, and Eric is studying Architecture and German. Jack is also studying German, and he recently came back from a semester in Germany. I myself am studying German and Geography. Since nearly everyone at the kitchen table had several years’ worth of experience with German, one of the topics that often came up in our dinner discussion was the difference between citizenship and politics in both the United States and Germany.

As we initially sat down for dinner, the table was relatively quiet. Eric was the first to bring up recent news to the dinner table, speaking about a recent political move made by President Trump to build the wall between the United States and Mexico. There was a shared sentiment of disapproval about Trump’s actions in the White House at the dinner table; however, Carlos, being Mexican-American, quickly called out the absurdity of the plan, noting that the proposal of building a wall between the United States and Mexico was not American. At this point, I thought it would be an appropriate time to ask everyone what it meant to be American. Everyone there had a different idea of citizenship, but there were recurring themes of opportunity and egalitarianism throughout each person’s opinion. Carlos held the belief that being a citizen entailed having the opportunity to speak and move freely and the right to pursue happiness by one’s own accord. He particularly emphasized examples in history of the importance of the right to pursue happiness, such as Mexicans immigrating to the United States to work so that they could better support their families. I supported this notion by stating that many of the anti-immigrant sentiments in the United States are based on scapegoating when in reality Latin American immigrants often work jobs that the typical person in the United States would refuse to. Ryan iterated that the United States was founded on the ideals of living one’s life the way they choose to, though he also added that the United States has an interesting quality regarding citizenship compared to the rest of the western world. It was his belief that the United States was the most individualistic western country, and that this affects how many citizens of the United States see themselves as Americans. Afterwards, Heike added to the topic, mentioning how a more collectivist attitude towards social issues exists in Germany and the rest of Western Europe. This means that while there are more government laws for assisting people, there is also more order and less free speech due to Germany’s troubled past.

The conversation shifted towards politics after talking about citizenship, as Jack recalled the current widespread malcontent with politicians currently. This brought the wide spectrum of political beliefs present in the United States to the dinner table. Virtually everyone at the table was disappointed with the current administration in a multitude of ways, which I didn’t find too surprising honestly. It did, however, become more interesting when Alex brought up the cause of the election’s results. He mentioned that the divide between rural and urban America has stratified our country, and that to move forwards the nation would have to first take an introspective look as to how we are all united as Americans, rather than divided. In agreement I replied that there appeared to be more challenging economic problems in areas like Appalachia and the Rust Belt, which a person living in an urban area would not understand. Jack noted that living in general has become more expensive, and that many well-paying jobs that once existed in rural areas are now gone. As we were all sitting at the table and pondering the situation, Ryan said that while the situation regarding work and economic prosperity looks somewhat grim at the moment, the same situation of a debilitated economy has happened several times before in the United States history, and that the tough conditions facing Americans today would, in some form or another, be overcome. The dinner was over shortly afterwards, though there were a few additional discussion topics that I felt taught me.

There were a few highlights from the night that I feel are worth mentioning in greater detail. My German professor, Laura, made an excellent point as to how the education system has evolved over the past fifty years. Where the University experience was once far more academic in nature, it has become more similar to a business model, since Universities now compete to get the best students by having the most amenities and accreditation. This, she noted, has heavily increased the cost of college, along with the increased need for a post-secondary education to obtain a fair-paying job. Many well-paying industrial jobs that one could obtain once they were finished with school are now gone, and the United States economy is increasingly based on service jobs, which are either minimum wage jobs or professional jobs. An important perspective on citizenship in different cultures came from Maggie, as she shared her opinion on the differences between Chinese and American culture. She remarked that there’s a higher sense of duty to one’s family in China than in the United States, and that this sense of duty will often manifest itself when decisions for the children are made. Parents are willing to sacrifice much of their own happiness for the sake of their child’s future. This resonated with me, as I had never heard a firsthand account of what life is like in China, where the cultural values are fairly different than in the United States. A final point that I found intriguing, though not in the main discussion around the dinner table, was a point brought up between Julia and Ryan, as they discussed learning Russian. Everyone at the table knew German to some degree, but Russian was familiar only to the two. It became very interesting as they talked about the varying contexts between Russian and German, agreeing that Russian is a higher-context language than German, which meant that the language is worded more implicitly. Although this small section of conversation wasn’t related to the rest of the discussion about citizenship and politics, I found it to be interesting on a more personal level, since I never really examined languages outside of my native English and German.

Of all the subjects we talked about in class, this dinner most reminded of the readings on global warming. Everyone at the table agreed that there were new political and social issues facing the world, but everyone seemed to have a different solution – or lack thereof – for the problem. The instructors, Laura, Julia, and Heike all seemed to agree that learning a second language is an important avenue towards higher intercultural sensitivity, which is important for citizenship in the 21st century. The other students and I had varying opinions on the meaning of citizenship in our modern world.  I, like Michael Pollan, admittedly had the bleakest outlook on the future. I feared that the world was going to be increasingly put under pressure by corrupt government and corporate rule which would limit our freedoms and force a more totalitarian system upon us. In short, I found that any good we could do as active citizens would be mitigated by forces on a larger scale. The other people attending the dinner, however, were not as cynical as I was. They came to a general consensus that through active citizenship and critical thinking, this generation would be able to overcome the pitfalls that impeded progress in the last two. One of the bigger ideas in class I feel this dinner alluded to was one of the three main questions: “How can we have more say over our own lives?” It seemed as though most of the conversation revolved around plans for the future and current global issues, with a heavy emphasis placed on what may happen to the world in the near future. While we couldn’t come to a conclusion as to what the future held, I think everyone at the table enjoyed the dinner and the conversation that came with it on this night.

When We Come Together

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By: Elise

A couple of weeks ago, I was able to host a Kentucky Kitchen Table at my house in Louisville, Kentucky. I must give a great thank you to my old youth minister who helped me get a diverse group of people together while I was in school in a different city. He was able to contact people for me that came to my meal that I never would have gotten to talk to without his help; and I think this diversity embodies the idea of this project.

There were nine people who attended my project dinner, each one with their own unique perspective. And, as I had requested, they all brought one of their favorite side dishes to accompany the main course and dessert my family provided. There was Larry, an outreach minister at a church, Janet, a self-employed consultant, Iris, a writer for Anthem, Heavenleah, and instructor for students with autism, and Felix, a 5th grader at a local elementary school. Also, a few of my family members attended; there was, Jackie, a children’s minister, David, a director at a marketing agency, and Amanda, an instructor for students with autism. They have asked that I refrain from getting too detailed with their specific descriptions but, our group’s ages ranged across 60 years. There were varying political parties, orientations, economic classes, and races represented; and many people there were not born in Louisville. And, with all of these differences between people, I had anticipated some awkward moments. However, the dinner ran very smoothly. Everyone was excited to participate and eager to hear other opinions. They were all very respectful and willing to speak up.  It was a really cool thing to witness.

I began the conversation by explaining a little bit to my guests about what the class is and reminding them of the purpose. After that, I really let my guests run the conversation, and they needed very little prompting from me. With the exception of my changing the question or adding a comment here and there, I had very little to do with the direction of the conversation. They had lots of good answers, and even questions of their own. And, everyone listened to what the others had to say. This conversation really embodied Keith Melville’s thoughts in How We Talk Matters. In this article, Melville defines deliberation as an approach to public decision making; and, he emphasizes the importance of intentional conversation and listening. And, during this conversation I was able to see the amazing things that can happen when this practice is actually used. People came together and actually heard what the others were saying, despite their difference in political party or economic class. And while they might not have had their minds changed about certain topics, they heard other opinions that seemed to broaden their view of the subject, and make them more open to other ideas.

The first question I asked was the required one, what does citizenship mean to you? Overwhelmingly, the answer I heard was being a citizen meant being a part of a community. The idea of citizens being a team or a family.  Each person has a different job, but we need all of those jobs done in order to be successful. Iris was reminded of jury duty—of how one person can’t be the only decision maker, but it requires a team of people actively participating to get the job done. Similarly, Felix said that a community reminded him of a grandfather clock in which the people were like the gears that kept the clock running. Even though he is young, he had some interesting insights throughout the night.

They also discussed how you can be a “citizen” of many different communities. Of course, we were all citizens of the United States, of Kentucky, and of Louisville. But we are also citizens of churches, schools, sports teams, clubs, etc. Some of these things we choose, while others we must be a part of. So, it is important to be a good citizen in all areas of our life.

Then I asked the question, what is the thing you love most about living where you do? I opened up the question so that people could talk about Louisville, but also compare it to places they had lived in the past and what they liked about that, too.  I felt that this was important to talk about because it recognizes the fact that we did not all come from the same place, though we were there together in that moment. At first, people focused on Louisville.  They love that everyone there is so friendly, and that they may not know everyone’s name, but they know their story. They said that this made the big city seem more connected, and more like a small town. They like the reputation Louisville has of being kind and generous, and this reputation is embodied by celebrities from there that they mentioned such as Muhammad Ali and Jennifer Lawrence. They seemed to all agree that an ideal place to live had these qualities that they liked about Louisville.

After we spent time talking about what we liked, I asked about what improvements they thought should be made to the area. Without missing a beat, Amanda brought up how we needed more homeless shelters in the city. We have a few in the downtown area, but in the part of town that most of us live, we do not have anything substantial. We also discussed how our prison system needed to be reformed; both in the prison and in the transition out of it. We have many people in the city who have served their time, but still seemed to be punished because they can’t get hired anywhere. Others brought up the fact that our area needs to improve on its awareness and treatment of those with mental illness or addiction. Many people noted how they knew people who had been turned away for help in these areas because the doctors were unsure how to help, or the insurance didn’t cover it.

While I prompted this question with improvements they thought should be made in Louisville, it seemed to me that all of these problems they noticed applied across the country. And, most of them had to do with the larger systems in place. They all seemed helpless when discussing these topics because they were unsure how to get around the large systems, but they saw a clear problem in the way they were run. It made me think about a discussion we had briefly in class once about how large systems that were put in place, like the prison system or the foster care system, are put in place to fix one problem, but it can cause other problems. That what makes issues like these Wicked. You cannot foresee the consequences, and once you put the system in place it is time-consuming and costly to change or replace them.

The last thing I asked them was what advice they would give to people running for office in our country. I thought this would be an interesting topic to cover because of recent political divisions across the country. I wanted to see if the group could discuss something that could be politically charged in a calm and efficient manner. Luckily for me, they did. And I loved their answers. A main point that they all agreed on was they wanted a politician who would focus on what unites the country, and not what divides it. They want politicians who do not use Us vs. Them tactics, but who will be honest with their opinions and be true to what they think is best rather than what the Party wants. The table also advised that politicians should know that they can’t please everyone, but they should still try to make everyone feel like they are heard. A common theme of this discussion was that people felt alienated because no one was listening to them. The group thought that if leaders made an effort to listen, people would be more understanding of their actions, even if they weren’t the outcome they had hoped for.

I did not realize until it was over how great of an experience this project was. It is not often that I get to sit and talk with a diverse group of people about issues that actually matter. And, it is not that I dislike these types of conversations; I just get so caught up in my own life that things like this don’t happen. But, I now realize the value of this type of conversation. In this class we talk about the importance of deliberation, and I can see now just how effective it can be. If people were to openly discuss topics like these more often, I feel our communities would be stronger. Most people came to this table strangers, but I feel we left a connected group. If citizens would take more opportunities like these, they might feel more connected to their communities.

Small Town Democracy

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By Mary

My Kitchen Kitchen Table took place in Glendale, KY, the quiet little town in central Kentucky that I call home. We sat around my family’s kitchen table, the table that my siblings and I sat around for years as kids.

Around the table were six people. My sister, Anne, is a 16 year old junior in high school who is an incredibly talented artist, writer and student who is gifted in not just the arts but in math and science as well. My mom sits at one end of the table. She has been a homeschooling mom of six kids for 28 years, and now is the development director for the local crisis pregnancy center. My dad sits at the head of the table. Dad is an engineer who works as the director of a healthcare clinic. My brother David sits across from Anne. He is 23 years old, works in the Louisville Ford plant as a CAD engineer, loves learning, and is the most industrious person I’ve met. Beside him is his fiance, Anna. David and Anna got engaged the week before we had dinner together. Anna is a senior in college, studying Asian Studies and Chinese. She works at the public library, and as the newest (soon to be) addition to the family, is a very welcome but not a very familiar presence at the dinner table.

We ate an incredibly scrumptious meal of pork, smashed potatoes, green beans, and a dessert of brownies, strawberries and ice cream prepared by my Mom, Anne and me. We had a wonderful time making dinner together.

This is a diverse group of ages, with my parents born in the Baby Boomer Generation, David and Anna born in the Millennial generation, and my sister and I born in Generation Z. Anna grew up in a different family and in a different town, my dad spent his childhood in Tennessee and Indiana, and my both my parents have lived and experienced much more in life than David, Anna, Anne and me.

We had a great conversation about citizenship. I asked the question, “What does citizenship mean to you?” We talked about two meanings of the word of citizenship – citizenship as a noun and citizenship as a verb. We said that to be a citizen (noun) means you have a particular legal status and fulfill duties within that status. To be a citizen (verb) means you take steps beyond just your legal status to improve the world around you. We said that the duty of a citizen is to do what they can. My dad said, “any good that people do – no matter what it is – adds to the greater good. Therefore, a citizen is responsible to do what good they can.”

Anna mentioned that globally, citizen participation is decreasing. We talked about how some countries are implementing compulsory voting laws. Anna talked about a unique system that India employs, where citizens’ thumbs are dipped in ink when they vote, making it easy to identify people who have and have not voted. We talked about how culturally, this system would not fit in in America, but it is interesting to see how other democracies go about the voting process.

I then asked, “Do you see your job as serving a greater purpose?” I picked this question intentionally, knowing that we had a diverse group of jobs and hoping that it would spark good conversation. My mom answered that she thought her job contributed to the greater good because the non-profit that she works for helps create healthy families, and healthy society cannot exist without healthy families. My brother said that he thinks his job in manufacturing definitely contributes the greater good, because every manufacturing plant provides a product to people who need it, whether the product seems “important” or not. He considers manufacturing a “noble profession” because it is not glamorous and doesn’t receive thanks but is instrumental to our society. Anna said that her job at the public library helps the whole community and every demographic, if people choose to take part in it. This, in a way, is a metaphor for democracy and engaged citizenship – if you choose to take part, your participation will benefit you and help strengthen the democracy. If you do not choose to take part, you have only yourself to blame. My dad said that he did consider his job as contributing to the greater good. As the director of a healthcare clinic that provides intensive care to Medicare patients with significant illnesses, Dad sees his job as connecting people with services they need that they wouldn’t be able to find elsewhere. He believes that because no man is an island, helping one person helps a lot of other people in turn.

We would define citizenship as taking deliberate action to do what you can to help another person, even if it is a small act or in an unconventional way like working in a manufacturing plant.

Sitting around the table eating dinner is not new to my family – growing up our family made it a point to stop and eat meals together. But having structured conversation about citizenship drew us together, because it gave us a picture into each person’s perspective on the world. I learned something about each of the people around the table, and developed my view of citizenship by having an intentional conversation about citizenship with my family. Our conversation reminded me of Jane Addams’ “Snare of Preparation” article. In her article, Jane Addams talks about how people often get caught up in preparation to serve and never actually embark to serve. The definition for citizenship that we developed touches on this, as it requires that citizenship be active based not on how large your impact can be, but how meaningful your impact can be. Often people don’t act (or vote, or write to their representatives, or talk intentionally or get involved in campaigns) because they think that it will not matter. In his article “Why Bother?,” Michael Pollan argues that we should bother about taking simple actions that don’t seem to have a large impact because they change ourselves and influence people around us. Our conversation helped relate Pollan’s article about the environment to citizenship. People should care about being good citizens because it makes you a good neighbor, a good friend, a good employee. Acting in the interest of others and not just in your own interest broadens your horizons and gives you an appreciation for people who are different than you. Citizenship is not limited to just political action; citizenship is a mindset that changes the way we interact with others. Only a transformed American citizenry can change American politics. Only citizens who deliberate with one another over kitchen tables, grocery store aisles and across party lines, and stay informed about both relevant issues and the needs of their neighbor can develop a flourishing democracy.