As an interdisciplinary scholar and practitioner of deliberative democracy, civic education, and group communication, Dr. Timothy J. Shaffer focuses on the advancement of democratic practices by focusing on the role of civic professionals in institutional settings such as higher education, local government, and non-governmental organizations in relationship with diverse communities.
Dr. Shaffer is the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Chair of Civil Discourse in the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration at the University of Delaware. He is also the director of civic engagement and deliberative democracy with the National Institute for Civil Discourse at the University of Arizona. Shaffer is the author or coeditor of six books including Deliberative Pedagogy: Teaching and Learning for Democratic Engagement, Creating Space for Democracy: A Primer on Dialogue and Deliberation in Higher Education, and the latest book, Grassroots Engagement and Social Justice through Cooperative Extension. He earned his Ph.D. from Cornell University.
