The Return of Civil Discourse?
Santa Barbara Institute on World Affairs to Offer Series of Speakers on Global Topics
If all goes as Ted Tedesco plans, Santa Barbara will soon become known as a center for global thought, and the former American Airlines executive just might save democracy along the way. That’s the hope for the Santa Barbara Institute on World Affairs, which Tedesco founded last year in order to bring prominent speakers to town, promote civil discourse from divergent standpoints, and engage the audience to ask questions and get involved in issues that matter. The institute’s inaugural event will be on Saturday, February 26, at the Lobero Theatre, where nine experts from UCSB will present their views on a variety of relevant topics.
“Issues that need to be discussed and debated and decided have been so polarized that there’s very little room, if any, for civil discourse,” said Tedesco, who retired to Santa Barbara in 1995 and quickly became involved in civic affairs and charity work. “So I’m trying to structure this institute with a prime interest in developing that civil discourse.”
To ensure that the speaking engagements have impact, Tedesco will inform the audience about each speaker in the days leading up to the event. “They might know them,” said Tedesco, who plans to bring some of the world’s brightest thinkers to town, “but they might not know what they’ve been saying lately.” That way, the audience involvement and participation will be maximized, which is a key part of the insitute’s success. “There will be a lot of dialogue between the speakers and the audience,” promised Tedesco, who may be best known locally for being the chairman of the governor-appointed group that investigated the Santa Barbara County split. After each event, the audience — which will attend for free but may be part of an invited guest list, depending on the event — will be given instructions on how to follow up with the issues that concern them. On top of that, Tedesco will film, edit, and present the speeches as video clips and podcasts available for download for free online. He expects to use the institute’s Web site, sbiwa.org, for this sort of dissemination.
