American University Project on Civic Dialogue

10/17/2023

PCD is not the Project on Civic Dialogue.

Learn more at:

Project on Civic Dialogue at American University

12/22/2020

"At a moment in time when many in our society remain up in arms about “cancel culture” and so-called liberal bias on American campuses, few people recognize that those who suffer the most from limitations on free speech might actually be the very same professors accused by some of indoctrination."

Freedom of speech on campuses is key to addressing racial inequality.

09/29/2020

“A lot of the focus that we might give on this self-editing question is much more complex than what’s happening on a college campus,” Schwartz said. Many students “are coming from homogenous communities and are coming into much more heterogeneous communities in college … People are very unused to being in a community where they’re a minority viewpoint.”

A new report finds a majority of students feel they can't express their opinions on campus, especially when they are in the ideological minority and even if they believe their college fosters a climate that supports free speech.

09/10/2020

Learn about the social model of disability- and a different look at one of this year's most talked-about convention speeches.

Joe Biden’s narrative about conquering his stammer might be true for him. That doesn’t mean it should be imposed on the rest of us.

08/24/2020

PCD's first for-credit offering is SPA-296: Campus discourse, rights to responsibilities.

This one-credit class meets Thursdays starting 10/1 from 5:30-7:10pm ET.

Course description:
Most conversations about speech on campus focus on the term “free,” which is derived from our First Amendment’s protections against government interference. But speech- whether in the public square or on campus- is not entirely unregulated. Laws protecting intellectual property rights, consumers’ rights, and individual safety all effectively limit our freedom to speak (I cannot pass off Beyonce’s songs as my own, advertise my Tofu Surprise as real beef, or threaten my neighbor with violence). In the classroom, academic integrity rules, course, subject matter, and norms of classroom conversation limit what we can say (we can’t pass off a friend’s paper as our own, submit a psychology paper in our physics course, or sing while others are talking).

These rules and norms notwithstanding, we all have a great deal of latitude to determine how to use our voices. Each of us must choose how we use our freedom to speak, listen, learn, explore new ideas, protest, form (and end) relationships, forgive, and grow. This course is a collaborative learning experience in which students explore the factors that affect central components of higher education: expression, inquiry, listening, and working with others. In these conversations, students will move beyond simple questions of freedom vs. censorship and consider their values and responsibilities as speakers and learners.

Course requirements:
• Attendance and engagement, including self-assessment 60%
• Personal reflection (may be video, paper, artwork, blog, website) 40%

07/29/2020

"A dozen protesters facing federal charges are barred from going to “public gatherings” as a condition of release from jail — a tactic one expert described as “sort of hilariously unconstitutional.”"

A dozen protesters facing federal charges are barred from going to “public gatherings” as a condition of release from jail — a tactic one expert described as “sort of hilariously unconstitutional.”

07/18/2020

"We must build a beloved community, an all-inclusive community, a community at peace with itself."

Representative John Lewis. Senate Judiciary Committee testimony, March 24, 2004.

06/27/2020

Still time to register for this Tuesday's conversation: Building Faith Remotely with Rev. Khristi Adams, author of "Parable of the Brown Girl" and Rabbi Ruti Regan, visiting scholar at Harvard Law School Project on Disability.

Tuesday, June 30 at Noon ET on Zoom.

RSVP: https://american.swoogo.com/pcdseries

06/19/2020

On the eve of Juneteenth, educators said the history of systemic racism in this country and the contributions of Black people have been erased.

06/16/2020

"These shows...and all those who are profiting from it, have made a choice. The report's goal is to both expose that and to hopefully give more power to people on the inside because we know there are people on the inside who want want to do the right thing to push for the right thing and push for change. to give them more power and more data to do that well," he said. "And then the goal...over time is that we are going to run campaigns. We are going to push back against these depictions and folks won't be able to say that they didn't know, that there wasn't any information out there, that they aren't making a choice, that they aren't choosing profit over the real depictions of people's lives and that it could have real harm."

Crime dramas are the cornerstone of primetime television,...

05/19/2020

RSVP link now available for our summer brown bag series on Zoom.

May 26: Inspired Higher Education with Kevin Gannon, author of Radical Hope: A Teaching Manifesto

and every Tuesday at noon ET.

Join Lara Schwartz, executive director of the Project for Civil Discourse at AU’s School of Public Affairs (SPA), every Tuesday at noon for a conversation series on building and maintaining community and connection in a world of self-quarantine.