Civic Dialogue

Community Relations

Contact Us

Community Relations
The �Ӱ�ԭ��
800 Linden Street
Scranton, PA 18510-4699
1.570.941.4419
community@scranton.edu

Weinberg Memorial Library

Civic Dialogue

Fall 2024 Events

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"What are your Hopes for the Nation? A Scranton Conversation

Scranton Public LIbrary
Albright Memorial Library
500 Vine Street, Scranton 18509

As part of the Scranton Stories oral history initiative, 33 interviewees were asked about their hopes for the nation. At this event, a week prior to Constitution Day, view some of their feedback and join the conversation in facilitated small group dialogue with your Scranton neighbors.

Light Refreshments will be served.

Fall Student Political Dialogue

Monday, Oct. 28, 7-9pm

The fall 2024 student political dialogue will take place on campus and will focus on the Presidential Elections, your vote and your values.

These campus dialogues provide an opportunity for students to engage in a non-partisan open discussion about important issues, to explore personal values that they hold, and to listen and learn from others. Students will have a chance to engage and encounter each other's experiences and views - not debate or persuade - through structured dialogue to build understanding.

The �Ӱ�ԭ�� has organized similar discussions on campus since 2017 as part of an ongoing “Bursting Our Political Bubbles” Dialogue Initiative, which blends the reflective, structured dialogue methods of national non-profit Essential Partners with St. Ignatius of Loyola’s teachings of discernment and reflection.

Questions? Contact community@scranton.edu or 570-941-4419.

Spring 2024 Political Dialogues

On Monday, February 26, 2024, The �Ӱ�ԭ��’s Political Dialogues Working Group will host a nonpartisan political dialogue on the upcoming Presidential Elections 2024 in LSC 133 from 7-9 pm. This dialogue is open to current �Ӱ�ԭ�� students.

On Monday, April 15, The �Ӱ�ԭ��'s Political Dialogues Working Group will host a dialogue on the topic of Israel-Palestine in The Kane Forum from 7-9 pm. This dialogue is open to current �Ӱ�ԭ�� students.

Prior to the April Dialogue, consider attending "Fostering Justice & Peace in Israel/Palestine: Palestinian & Jewish Perspectives on Current Realities & the Path Forward" on Wednesday, March 21, 2024 in The Pearn Auditorium, Brennan Hall from 5-6:30 pm. Omar Dajani, Professor of Law, �Ӱ�ԭ�� of the Pacific, and Mira Sucharov, Professor of Political Science, Carleton �Ӱ�ԭ�� will join via Zoom for this event. This event will be in-person and will be available via live-stream. Free & open to the public. To register, please click

Spring 2023 Political Dialogue

On Monday, April 3, 2023 The �Ӱ�ԭ��’s Political Dialogues Working Group hosted a nonpartisan political dialogue on the topic of guns in The Kane Forum from 7-9 pm. This dialogue was open to current �Ӱ�ԭ�� students.

Spring 2022 Political Dialogue

In the Spring 2022 semester The �Ӱ�ԭ��’s Political Dialogues Working Group hosted a political dialogue, Freedom and Our Founding: What do they mean for us today?, on Tuesday, March 22 at 7 p.m. in virtually via Zoom. This dialogue was open to both members of the �Ӱ�ԭ�� and community. Over 20 participants came together to share with and listen to learn from others in a dialogue on our shared value of freedom.

Spring 2021 Political Dialogues

The �Ӱ�ԭ��’s Political Dialogues Working Group offered two virtual student political dialogues in the Spring 2021 semester. The first dialogue, Democracy: Are We "Brave Enough to Be It"?, was held on Wednesday, March 3 at 7 p.m. and was joined by 56 student participants that came together to share with and listen to learn from others in a dialogue on our shared value of democracy. The spring's second dialogue, Exploring "Cancel Culture," was held on Tuesday, April 20 at 7 p.m. virtually via Zoom and 50 students joined this dialogue.

These campus dialogues provided an opportunity for students to engage in a non-partisan open discussion about important issues, to explore personal values that they hold, and to listen and learn from others. Students had a chance to engage and encounter each other's experiences and views - not debate or persuade - through structured dialogue to build understanding.

About Bursting Political Bubbles: Dialogue Across Differences

In the Jesuit tradition, students practice listening to understand in a recent civic engagement initiative to bridge the political divide.

The "Bursting Our Political Bubbles Dialogue Initiative" was formed in 2017 by a Campus Working Group. This campus-wide initiative aims to bring students together, outside of class but in connection with academic courses, to share their personal experiences and beliefs — and, more important, to listen to others — in a space that is confidential and respectful and open to the unexpected and uncomfortable. Using a method called Reflective Structured Dialogue conceived of by , a nonprofit organization based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that helps “foster constructive dialogue where conflicts are driven by differences in identity, beliefs and values,” students can begin to feel more secure in their own stories and less fearful of others.

Since its inception, this civic dialogue initiative has also coordinated blended dialogues, which invite both students and community members, along with community dialogues.

Faculty and staff of the �Ӱ�ԭ�� and community members interested in learning more or becoming facilitators, can email community@scranton.edu for more information.