Extra-Curricular Programs

The Project on Civic Dialogue offers a number of semester and year-long programs for students to practice their civic engagement across American University's campus and beyond. 

Each year, the Project on Civic Dialogue organizes dozens of events, featuring our talented student facilitators, American University faculty, and guest speakers. Project on Civic Dialogue events are “open to all” and participation is not limited based on any individual’s personal identity or characteristics, including but not limited to race, color, national origin (or shared ancestry), religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, disability, or veteran status.

If you have any questions about PCD's offerings, contact dialogueproject@american.edu for additional information. 

Want to follow the Project on Civic Dialogue on Instagram for additional information on upcoming PCD events and collaborative efforts?

Click here

 

Social Capitol Program

Get Involved. Be Connected. Have Fun. Earn Merch.

Social Capitol is a co-curricular program organized by the Project on Civic Dialogue that invites students to build real-world skills. Through participation in activities both on campus and off, students can track their civic and community engagement throughout the semester to strengthen their dialogue and disagreement skills while earning PCD swag along the way. This program emphasizes intellectual curiosity, community connection, and the development of transferable skills such as public speaking, active listening, and dialogue facilitation. 

 Want to sign up and receive a PCD-branded drawstring bag, water bottle, and notebook to get you started on your journey through the Social Capitol?

Click here

 

Looking for additional information?

Click here.

 

Coffee & Conversations

Enjoy a coffee and some good conversation at the Davenport Lounge. This one's on us.

Conversations & Coffee is a bi-weekly community-building program designed to promote genuine dialogue, peer connection, and thoughtful exchange among students at American University. Taking place at The Davenport Coffee Lounge (DAV), this program invites students to engage in casual, meaningful conversations with one another over a free cup of coffee. There are no strings, no pressure - just good talk and shared perspectives.

Students may sign up for Coffee & Conversations within the first two weeks of the Fall or Spring semesters. Signups for Fall 2025 are now closed. Feel free to contact dialogueproject@american.edu for more information. 

Upcoming PCD Events

September:

Disagree with Professors Susan Green & Lara Schwartz: Electability

Tuesday, Sep. 9th. 3:30-5pm, Kerwin 302

LEGO My Inhibitions: Demystifying SPA

Wednesday, Sep 10th. 3:30-4:30, Location TBD

Movie Series: Sinners

Friday, Sep 12th. 7-9:30pm, Kerwin T02

Handwrite the Constitution Tabling Event

Wednesday, Sep 17th. 11am-3pm, Quad Info Table 2

Teach-In: Data Privacy with Regina Curran & Andrew El-Kadi

Wednesday, Sep. 24th. 1:30-3pm, Kerwin 301

Movie Series: Whiplash

Friday, Sep 26th. 7-9:30pm, Kerwin T02

October:

Disagree with your Family

Friday, Oct 3rd. 2:30-3:30pm, Kerwin 301

Movie Series: Do the Right Thing

Friday, Oct 17th. 7:00-9:30pm, Kerwin T02

Disagree with a Prof w/ Jason Steinbaum

Wednesday. Oct 22nd. 2:00-3:30pm, MGSC 307

Movie Series: My Cousin Vinny

Thursday, Oct 30th. 7:00-9:30pm, Kerwin T02

2025:

 

• Dialogue Speed Dating: Pop Culture Edition.

• Social Capitol Introductory Meeting

• Conversations & Coffee Introductory Meeting

• PCD Student-Run Dialogue Facilitations:

  • The Ethics of Mr. Beast 
  • Free Speech & Civic Responsibility in the US vs. UK 

• Teach-In Series:

  • 'Wait, Can He Do This?' On Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Constitutional Crisis with Professors Ron Elving and Chris Edelson

  • Tariffs, Trade Wars, and Trump with University of Florida, Levin College of Law Professor Mindy Herzfeld and American Enterprise Institute Fellow Kyle Pomerleau

2024:

• Disagree with a Policy: Responses to AU's then-newly-instituted policy limiting student expression. 
• PCD x AUSG President Santos: What does your ideal university as a space for dialogue and disagreement look like? A part of the "A(spirational)U series, allowing students to utilize dialogue to envision what AU can be.

2023:

• Can We Talk? Defining, Practicing, and Protecting Dialogue in Higher Education: A two-day series of facilitated online conversations explores the challenges of fostering open and inclusive communication in college classrooms and campuses and lays the foundation for future collaboration on pedagogy, research, and programming.
• "Disagree Like Your Life Depended on It": A talk on the Judge Duncan Stanford Law Protest with David Muraskin, Food Project Litigation Director, Public Justice, and Ian Millhiser, Senior Correspondent, Vox. 
• Disagree with a Professor Series: 
  • Professor Sasha O'Connell and lawful access/"going dark"
  • Professor Steven Taylor and urban politics 
  • Professor Korneliya Bachiyska and ethical conflict
  • Professor Kevin Boyle and juvenile sentencing/justice
  • Professor Amaarah Decuir and Teach for America
  • Professor Andrew Karron and the Major Questions Doctrine
• Navigating Conflict on Campus in October 2023: Devising strategies to address communication roadblacks unique to Israel and Palestine. 
• Barbenheimer: A facilitated dialogue focused on the trials and tribulations of the summer's competing blockbuster hits. 
• School Curriculum Censorship: A group discussion on the rising levels of censorship in K-12 schools. 
• Disagree with your Boss: A PCD and Graduate Leadership Council town hall with Professor Nate Favero. 
• What Makes A Youth Leader?: A drop-in conversation with student Olivia Gauvin.
• The Search for a New President with SPA UGC: A cafe dialogue to discuss what students are looking for from the next AU president. 
• Disagree with your Family: How can we communicate and have constructive dialogue with our family during the holidays?

2022:

• What's Going on with Covid-19?: Join peer facilitators for a discussion on the state of the pandemic and how it affects the AU and D.C. communities. 
• Disagree with Professor Char Mollison: The Role of Dissent in Nonprofits: When Staff Openly Disagree with the Boss
• Peer Discussion Series: 
  • Patriotism, Dissent, and Power: What is patriotism? How do you express it? Students will explore the meanings of and nexuses between patriotism, dissent, and power in the U.S. 
  • Apology 101: Students will examine why people apologize, what constitutes a genuine apology, and what people need to do to truly make up for their past mistakes. 
  • Paradox of Tolerance: The paradox of tolerance states that if a society is tolerant without limit, its ability to be tolerant is eventually destroyed by the intolerant. Students will explore the concept of tolerance with PCD peer facilitators. 
  • Do Your Professor's Politics Matter?: In an age where political division is at an all time high and political debates are increasingly hostile, the roles of educators and academia are unique. Students will explore what the role of their professors is and if they should be apolitical vessels of knowledge. 
• Thanksgiving—Reconciling Tradition and Tragedy: For many, Thanksgiving has been taught as a celebrated of unity between settlers and Native Americans. But the bloody history of the period and continued violence against Native peoples has caused many to rethink how and if Thanksgiving is worth celebrating. 

2021:

• Peer Facilitated Discussions:
  • Mental Illness Discourse: Students will discuss if "crazy talk" affects community members with mental health disabilities and if so, how?
  • Marketplace of Ideas: Students will discuss how institutions dedicated to expanding knowledge deal with the junk in our marketplace of ideas. 
  • Anger, Profanity and Forbidden Words: Students will discuss broad ideas surrounding moral coercion and delve into narrower areas such as cancel culture. 

2020:

• Communication and Community in the Time of Social Distancing:
  • Inspired Higher Education Across Distance, with Prof. Kevin Gannon
  • Pride During the Covid-19 Era, with Charlotte Cloymer
  • Activism and Expression Across Distance, with Daniel Alejandro Leon-Davis
  • Parenting, Way Up Close, with Katherin Reynolds Lewis
  • Building Faith Remotely, with Rabbi Ruti Regan and Rev. Dr. Laura Norvell, Wesley Theological Seminary
• Reflections on Fairness with PCD Student Leaders: In this conversation, students will continue to reflect upon how their political, personal, spiritual, or other values and identities inform their perceptions of education and live in the COVID-19 crisis. They will engage in perspective taking and brainstorm effective ways to use their voices in support of equity and accessibility in this challenging time.
• Frustration and Fairness in the Covid-19 Era with Professor Lara Schwartz: In this conversation, students will continue to reflect upon how their political, personal, spiritual, or other values and identities inform their perceptions of education and live in the COVID-19 crisis. They will engage in perspective taking and brainstorm effective ways to use their voices in support of equity and accessibility in this challenging time.
• Free Speech, Student Activism, and Racial Justice—An ACLU Lawyer's Perspective: Join Emerson Sykes, staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and fellow at the National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement, for a discussion about racial justice and student activism. Refreshments will be provided.

2019:

• What's With AU?: Join us in a panel discussion as we break down the mold of the typical AU student and the pressures of having constant internships and multiple leadership positions. This panel provides AU community members with an opportunity to better understand student life at AU. Why is the typical AU student under these pressures? Who created these pressures? AU faculty and staff will be able to offer observations of student behavior and mindset over many generations or at different universities which they have taught at.
• Political Discourse and the American Jewish Identity: This discussion focuses on the use of Jews and the issue of anti-Semitism as a political hacky sack by the American political right and left. A four-person panel of expert Jewish speakers will discuss some of these difficult issues on stage before opening things up to questions from the audience. Attendees will be able to consider the tension between marginalization and privilege within the American Jewish community. View the recording of this panel here.
• The Picture of Dorian Gray Talkback: This talkback discussed the legacy of problematic authors and how to properly perform their work. Focusing around the example of Oscar Wilde and the Picture of Dorian Gray, we will explore how to separate, or not separate, authors and their writing. 
• The Paradox of Tolerance: The paradox of tolerance states that if a society is tolerant without limit, its ability to be tolerant is eventually seized or destroyed by the intolerant. This panel discussed whether and to what extent religious tolerance warrants limits on laws, such as antidiscrimination laws, designed to ensure tolerance for, access by, and participation in society for members of the protected classes. View the lecture here.
• A Conversation with Louis Seidman: Can Free Speech be Progressive? 

  Louis Michael Seidman is the Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Constitutional Law at Georgetown Law. Seidman spoke about his work, "Can Free Speech Be Progressive?," outlining his arguments and discussing the constitutionalization of free speech and the tension between property and speech. Watch the lecture here.

The Spring 2019 Global Education Forum: "Hate Comes to Campus"

March 28, 2019 | 2:30PM | SVB 6th Floor

Join Shannon Gilreath, Ibram X. Kendi, and Lara Schwartz for a panel discussion on free speech and the future of the campus community.

Conviction and Authenticity in Political Communication: A Conversation with Tyler Lewis

March 6, 2019 | 11:30AM | MGSC 200

Tyler Lewis is the Director of Coalition Communications and Research at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Lewis spoke about political communication, the importance of moral clarity and repetition, and the interplay between passion and anger.

Watch Lewis' lecture.

Activism, Discourse, and Identity with “The Monopoly Man.”

November 1, 2018

Ian Madrigal (formerly Amanda Werner), an attorney and consumer advocate best known as “The Monopoly Man,” discussed the interplay of identity and discourse and how they use their voice and platform for activism.

Watch the lecture.

Diversity of Opinion and Campus Speech: A Conversation with Josh Blackman

September 27, 2018

Josh Blackman is a law professor at the South Texas College of Law and a Cato Institute Adjunct Scholar. Blackman spoke about the role that free speech plays in education and his own experience with being protested.

Watch Blackman’s lecture.
A Reflection on “A Conversation with Josh Blackman”
Understanding the Role of Free Speech on Campus

Free Speech Isn't Free: A Conversation with Garrett Epps

October 17, 2018

Garrett Epps is a law professor at the University of Baltimore and a contributing editor for The Atlantic. Epps spoke about the complexity of free speech and the unequal burden it can present.

Watch Epps' lecture on YouTube.
A Reflection on "A Conversation with Garrett Epps"
Project on Civil Discourse Guest Lecturer Examines First Amendment