CoursesCivil Dialogue Seminar: Civic Engagement in a Divided Nation
URBS 245/EDUC 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., 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM, online synchronous

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

URBS 2110-301

Restorative Justice in the City: History Theory and Practice

Instructor(s)

  • Pablo Miguel Cerdera

Semester

Spring 2025

Restorative Justice (RJ) is a new term to describe ancient ways of dealing with harm and being in community which centers our relationships and obligations to one another, as opposed to punishment and retribution. Increasingly popular as a response to a plethora of urban issues, from mass incarceration to gun violence to education inequality, RJ is also sometimes misunderstood or applied without fidelity.

This course explores the theory, history, and practice of RJ in the urban environment. The course intersperses practical communication and facilitation skills, visits from local practitioners and advocates, and in-depth discussion of texts and media. Through readings, discussions, activities, and projects we will develop a solid theoretical basis from which to understand RJ and its implementation, including a focus on holistic engagement with self, other, and community.

Learn More
PPE 4903

Policy Task Force on U.S.-China Relations (New)

Instructor(s)

  • Neysun Mahboubi
  • Neysun Mahboubi

Semester

Spring 2025

More than forty years after the normalization of relations between the United States and China, the relationship faces new and fundamental challenges with global implications. Designed as a policy task force, taught in coordination with a similar course to be taught at Tsinghua University in Beijing, this course will introduce students to the most pressing issues in U.S.-China relations –– including security, trade, climate, tech competition, and human rights. Each student will be required to complete a policy paper on some aspect of U.S.-China relations.

At the end of the course, students will travel to China to meet in-person with their Chinese counterparts at Tsinghua University, and to present their policy papers and recommendations to relevant interested Chinese audiences in Beijing and Shanghai. Travel to China will take place Wednesday, May 14 – Sunday, May 25, 2025.

Learn More