CoursesCivil Dialogue Seminar: Civic Engagement in a Divided Nation
URBS 245/EDUC 244/COMM 244

Civil Dialogue Seminar: Civic Engagement in a Divided Nation

The goal of this course is to help students develop concepts, tools, dispositions and skills that will help them engage productively in the ongoing experiment of American democracy. Civil dialogue is an aspiration, a theory and a practice—and one of the most misunderstood terms in contemporary political life.

Tues., 12:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Our goal is for you to learn concepts, tools, dispositions and skills that will help you engage more effectively in the ongoing experiment of American democracy. These will also equip you to hold more productive conversations with family, on campus, online and at work.

This is an experiential seminar driven by discussions about issues that matter to you and by exercises where you and your classmates will test out the concepts you are learning. The seminar will integrate wellness concepts and exercises.

Your capstone project will allow you to design a civic dialogue around an issue that you care about. If you want to try to carry out your capstone idea in the real world, you can apply for money and help to do that through the Red and Blue Exchange, a Paideia program.

Working Syllabus

Other Courses of Interest

PSCI 4992

Free Speech and the First Amendment Tradition

Instructor(s)

  • Carlin Romano

Semester

Fall 2024

Free Speech and its First Amendment protections have rarely been as controversial and central to public discussion in the United States as they are today. After a brief introduction to free speech as understood before it became enshrined in the Constitution’s First Amendment, we’ll examine and trace its history in the U.S.—legally, politically, philosophically and socially—from 1791 to the present day.

Learn More
LALS 3020 / PSCI 2420

Diplomacy in the Americas: The Penn Model OAS Program

Instructor(s)

  • Catherine Bartch

Semester

Fall 2024

“Diplomacy in the Americas” an academically based community service course in which students work with Philadelphia and Norristown public school students to explore solutions to critical problems facing the Americas.

Learn More