UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Ekaterina Haskins is concerned about democratic backsliding but also interested in the power of imagination to envision stronger democracies in the United States and around the world. She will bring both of those perspectives to her new role as director of the Center for Democratic Deliberation (CDD), part of the McCourtney Institute for Democracy in the Penn State College of the Liberal Arts.
Haskins is a professor of communication arts and sciences and visual studies and served on the CDD’s faculty advisory board before being named director. Her research focuses on public memory, particularly in post-Soviet Russia, and how the obfuscation of collective memory contributes to democratic erosion. Her most recent book is “Remembering the War, Forgetting the Terror: Appeals to Family Memory in Putin’s Russia,” published by Penn State University Press in 2024.
“My current research provides insights into the fragility of democratic institutions and lessons about bottom-up participation in cultural practices that build civic resilience in the face of democratic backsliding,” Haskins said. “Democratic deliberation is under threat in this country and globally. I envision CDD as a resource that offers scholars and students on campus creative ways of thinking for how to keep deliberative democracy alive and healthy into the 21stcentury.”
The CDD became part of the McCourtney Institute for Democracy in 2014. It explores democracy through rhetoric and political culture. Its programming includes a monthly luncheon series for faculty and graduate students and the annual Kenneth Burke lecture, which honors the rhetorical theorist whose papers are housed at Penn State.
As CDD director, Haskins plans to expand the center’s audience to include faculty and students from across the College of the Liberal Arts and co-create programming that explores how sustainability and the arts are connected to democratic deliberation. She previously served as director of Rhetoric and Civic Life, the first-year honors course that explores how to develop persuasive arguments, deliberate effectively and advocate for policy positions.
“Part of my effort would be to highlight the scholarly work but also bring in pedagogical focus to CDD programming,” Haskins said. “I would like to develop programming where we talk about assignments and class activities to foster democratic deliberation like we’ve done in Rhetoric and Civic Life.”
Haskins succeeds Xiaoye You, Liberal Arts Professor of English and Asian Studies, who was center’s director since 2020.