The Dialogue, Deliberation, and Public Engagement (DDPE) curriculum was initiated in 2004 by faculty at Fielding Graduate University (Santa Barbara, CA) and designed collaboratively with the International Institute for Sustained Dialogue, the Kettering Foundation,  the Centre for Citizenship and Public Policy, University of Western Sydney and the Public Dialogue Consortium.  The primary architect and champion for the DDPE was Dr. Barnett Pearce (Fielding University) who was a well-known and respected scholar in communication studies.  Dr. Pearce passed away in 2011 and Fielding University decided to discontinue the curriculum. 

Those individuals and centers that helped create the DDPE were interested in continuing the program.  They needed an academic home for the curriculum and came to Kansas State University.  They approached K-State because of the reputation of KSU’s Institute for Civic Discourse and Democracy (ICDD).  K-State’s ICDD has developed a national reputation in deliberation and public engagement.  Since its formation in 2004, ICDD has developed strong ties with the Kettering Foundation, America Speaks, the National Issues Forums and other national deliberation organizations.  Additionally, this community of practice was familiar with KSU’s ICDD because Dr. David Procter (ICDD Director) and Dr. Tim Steffensmeier (ICDD Research Associate) served as editors of the online journal, The Journal of Public Deliberation. These national organizations also knew that K-State was teaching, researching and conducting outreach in deliberation and public engagement.  After significant negotiation with representatives of the DDPE, K-State’s Global Campus, and K-State’s department of communication studies, we decided to take responsibility for administering and teaching the DDPE.