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Re-energizing the Wisconsin Idea

As the class and public lecture series on the Wisconsin Idea wraps up, participants ponder their responsibilities to each other and the community.

by Aaron R. Conklin December 20, 2019
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Cora Marrett believes deeply in the time-honored concept of the Wisconsin Idea.

But she’s also concerned about what she believes it’s become.

“The expression, ‘The Wisconsin Idea’ is bandied about frequently,” says Marrett, a UW-Madison emerita professor of sociology and former senior vice president for academic affairs for UW System. “It’s become a slogan, without anyone really examining what it means today.”

That concern is one of several reasons Marrett, who’s also a member of the College of Letters & Science’s Board of Visitors, jumped at the chance this fall to step in and teach “Forward? The Wisconsin Idea Past and Present,” the latest edition of a class based on exploring and discussing the modern application of the Wisconsin Idea. Over the past three months, Marrett has moderated weekly discussions between UW students, members of the community and a list of talented UW faculty on a wide range of topics. The class, which is housed in the department of Sociology, began in 2016.

The thread that ties the classes together is instilling a sense of responsibility among students and community members, the notion that a UW education loses its inherent value without thoughtful engagement and action. 

 “What are the responsibilities of citizens to one another?” Marrett asks. “And what are the responsibilities of the University to provide opportunities to all members of the state?”

Members of the class were expected to engage both in the classroom and online, where they posted responses to course material and discussed topics with one another.

“It was nice to connect what the Wisconsin Idea means to others and what it means to me,” says Lindsey Burns, a junior majoring in political science, environmental studies and global health. “It also was helpful to put my own studies into perspective.” 

Cora Marrett Photo by Paul Newby

The lineup of speakers also encouraged engagement. Dietram Scheufele, a professor of life sciences communication, examined the limits of “sift & winnow” --another phrase the UW frequently uses—in instances where the research topic becomes controversial or difficult to communicate.  Kathy Cramer, a professor of political science, talked about the impacts of political polarization in work and politics. Gloria Ladson-Billings of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research discussed the ramifications of recent school testing results that revealed an achievement gap between African-American students and their Caucasian peers that is sharper in Madison than in most other parts of the United States.

“That last one really stood out,” Marrett says. “People had no idea that was happening in our own community. The discussion we had around that topic was very insightful.  I’ve been impressed with the ways the students have thought about these issues in terms of their own lives.”

The course lectures change each year, allowing the scope of topics to range across the tremendous breadth of activity at UW-Madison, and allowing the inclusion of occasional guest speakers from other UW System schools.  The course leader changes each year as well, inviting faculty from widely divergent disciplines to grapple with these concepts anew, and re-energize their own thinking about them.

 “There are so many people who could potentially be involved,” she says. “I want to continue to foster these communities where we can have these types of exchanges with one another. It really emphasizes the kind of role the UW should be playing.”