The Project on Civic Dialogue

Founded in 2018 as the Project on Civil Discourse, the Project on Civic Dialogue provides opportunities to listen and communicate across differences. All of our programming reflects these core principles:

• Dialogue and disagreement are skills that can be learned and must be practiced (not spectator sports).
• Expressive and academic freedom are necessary conditions for dialogue, and understanding these freedoms (and their limits) empowers us to build communities where dialogue thrives.
• Civic dialogue is not the mere expression of opinions; it incorporates rigorous inquiry and requires self-reflection.

Our Programs

Academics

• Certificate in Civic Dialogue: Available to all American University graduates and compatible with any course of study. Students in the certificate program will develop critical dialogue skills, lead discussions, and experience cohort programming and leadership programming.
• Skills Courses: PCD's one-credit courses are open to any AU undergraduate. Find your voice in hands-on classes like Dialogue for Civic Engagement, Mediation and Dispute Resolution, First Amendement Moot Court, and Dialogue for Public Affairs Practice.

Co-Curriculars

• Civic Dialogue Grant Program: The Project on Civic Dialogue supports AU community members' efforts to promote civic dialogue through events, scholarship, research, and other programming. All AU students, faculty, and staff (and groups) are eligible to apply. Grantees receive support in designing and implementing their programs and up to $1000 in program and event expenses. 
• Faculty Fellows: The SPA Civic Dialogue Faculty Fellows program supports efforts to infuse educational courses and programs with opportunities to practice dialogue across differences, collaborative inquiry, and dispute resolution. Visit our faculty fellows page to meet the inagural class of 2024-25 fellows. 
• Student Facilitators: Each year, PCD hosts a cohort of driven, passionate student fellows, supporting curriculum development, dialogue facilitation, individual research projects, and more! Students who wish to be trained in Fall 2025 should reach out to dialogueproject@american.edu or register for GOV 196: Dialoge for Civic Engagement. Learn more about our current student fellows here.

Events and Facilitated Discussions

PCD provides opportunities for dialogue including peer-led discussions with trained student dialogue facilitators and faculty-led events such as our popular “Disagree with a Professor” series. Each month, PCD hosts a dialogue-focused event, such as "Disagree with the Constitution" this September, and an event featuring a guest speaker from the AU or D.C. communities.