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              Californians in Dialogue for the Common Good
            CHAUTAUQUA EVENT ADVOCATING TAKING BACK DEMOCRACY

CONTACT:  Mara Keller             Voice: 510-526-3736  Fax: 510-527-6713

           "Living Democracy in a Media Age" in San Francisco
         **June 27 Conference and June 20 Training Workshops**

     Noted social critic Frances Moore Lappe' will join Paul Martin 
DuBois, both of the Institute for the Arts of Democracy (IAD), and 
Elizabeth Thoman of the Center for Media and Values (CMV), as keynote 
speakers for a conference on "Living Democracy in a Media Age," on 
Saturday, June 27, 9:30 am to 5:45 pm, in McKenna Theatre on the San 
Francisco State University Campus, 1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco. 

     Concerned citizen activists are invited to take part in workshop-
leader training sessions on MEDIA LITERACY and the ARTS OF DEMOCRACY, to 
be conducted by IAD and CMV on Saturday, June 20, 9:00 am to 1:00 pm, in 
the School of Humanities (19th Ave. & Holloway, Room 349.  Persons 
receiving the training are expected to lead workshops on June 27.  

     This "chautauqua", or old-time public assembly, urging citizens to 
"Take back democracy and make it work for us!" is sponsored by 
Californians in Dialogue for the Common Good, a project of the 
California Council for the Humanities.  

     Participants will receive "tool kits to take back democracy" in the 
fields of media literacy and the arts of democracy.  Community activists 
and Humanities scholars from around the Bay Area will lead issue forums 
on jobs, education, healthcare, environmental protection, gender 
justice, tax reform, hunger and homelessness, and the needs of children.

     "The search for the Common Good means broadening one's 
understanding of self-interest to include those values and actions that 
serve the well-being of the larger society, even the whole planet," said 
Chautauqua organizer Mara Keller, philosophy and women studies professor 
and Coordinator of Global Peace Studies at San Francisco State 
University.  "Many Americans are angry about the government's mistakes 
and deceptions and realize that we need to have greater citizen 
participation in politics if we are to solve our major social problems," 
stated Keller.

     Project Director of Californians in Dialogue for the Common Good, 
Howard Frederick of the San Francisco-based Institute for Global 
Communications (PeaceNet and EcoNet), explained that in-depth 
discussions with Humanities scholars and citizens led the group to chose 
media literacy and the arts of democracy as potential tools to address 
alienation from the political process. 
  
     "Chautauquas" were a very popular form of public event around the 
turn of the century, engaging Americans in political dialogue when 
traveling tent shows complete with entertainment came to town.  

     The admission price for the day-long June 27 event is $10 and 
includes the "tool kits to take back democracy" on media literacy and 
the democratic arts.  The June 20 training workshops are free.