UniverseCity participants engage in constructive dialogue and develop methods to identify rhetorical tricks used by rightwing thinktanks. Classes use audio and video files whenever possible to encourage listening while practicing sustainable skills — cooking, gardening, animal husbandry, carpentry, sewing, etc. Book study groups pose thought–provoking questions to which there are no easy answers — if there are answers at all.

In an ideal world, low–power fm stations would broadcast an education for social change into fields, barns, gardens, workshops, and kitchens. Discussion groups would meet in living rooms, coffee houses, or churches. Research and analysis papers would be published online and broadcast. Web forums would facilitate connections, and colleges would give low–cost credit.

We can't wait, however, for that world. The need for deeper, as opposed to higher, education has never been more evident. Students are goaded to compete, not to collaborate on solutions. Universities serve corporate donors, not the communities and families who pay for them. Students are forced into debt only to be shut out of classes and tear–gassed on their own campus when they protest.

The UniverseCity has been designed for learners, not for teachers. The format facilitates peer–to–peer networks, while the curriculum applies universal questions and a global context to the urgent issue of regenerating local production. A structure for dialogue and rules for engagement keep the conversation moving forward between the alternative media and the well–informed community it serves.

Welcome to the UniverseCity!