Voices and Values: Extension Reconsidered Oct. 8

Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Extension Reconsidered project will present insights and perspectives on the meaning and role of extension, garnered from three months of dialogue and deliberation with stakeholders across New York state, at an event Oct. 8 from 1:30 to 4 p.m. in Barnes Hall.

The Extension Reconsidered project is a national initiative sponsored by Imagining America, The Kettering Foundation and others, involving 13 states over this summer and early autumn. The goal of the project in New York is to examine how Cornell Cooperative Extension can continue to be relevant, engaged, accessible and valued in its work with families and communities across the state.

To begin to answer this question, Cornell Cooperative Extension stakeholders were invited to join the conversation using a variety of formats and technologies, including a blog, Twitter, interviews, one-on-one conversations, story circles and structured deliberative forums.

The results of the input received will be shared in several ways, including formal written reports and presentations. The capstone event Oct. 8 will include a theatrical performance developed in collaboration with Civic Ensemble, a theater company based in Ithaca. In the spirit of Extension Reconsidered’s theme of “join the conversation,” it will include multiple voices and formats and ample opportunities for dialogue and deliberation.

This year, 2014, marks the 100th anniversary of the Smith-Lever Act, which founded the Extension system in the United States.

More information about the event is available online.

Media Contact

Joe Schwartz