Civil Discourse Project
Building on our Shared Values to encourage open-minded exploration at a university where all individuals feel valued and supported.
The Civil Discourse Project brings together expert resources from across the university to provide Ohio State's students, faculty and staff with opportunities to learn about civil discourse and practice skills to engage with different views and opinions they encounter.
Building on the platform of Ohio State's Shared Values, the purpose of the project is to integrate civil discourse into a distinctive Ohio State experience. The project weaves together concepts for discourse across differences, including:
- Encouraging open-minded exploration, risk-taking, and freedom of expression
- Building trust through honesty, transparency and authentic engagement
- Putting people at the center of all that we do
Ways for Students to Get Involved
- Participate in a Shop Class for Democracy
- Become a CEHV Civil Discourse Fellow (application opens soon, deadline September 1, 2023)
- Enroll in a fall 2023 course
- Request a Dialogue Facilitation Workshop from CEHV
Ways for Faculty and Staff to Get Involved
- Participate in professional development workshops presented by the Drake Institute
- Utilize the Toolkit for Respectful Dialogue from the Office of Diversity and Inclusion
| Submit an event |
Events
| Date and Time | Title | Event type | Audience |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Friday, September 1 |
In-person Ohio Union Barbie Tootle Room |
University Community | |
| Friday, September 8 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. |
COMPAS Colloquium: Can Education Save Democracy? | In-person Thompson Library 165 |
University Community |
Angus Fletcher, professor and “story scientist” in the Department of English.
2023 Education for Citizenship Address
The 2023 Education for Citizenship Address featured faculty speaker Angus Fletcher, a professor and “story scientist” in the Department of English. Dr. Fletcher is actively involved with Ohio State’s Project Narrative podcast, a leading academic think tank for the study of how stories work.
Learn morePrevious events
Project Partners
The Center for Ethics and Human Values (CEHV) is Ohio State's hub for respectful discussion and interdisciplinary engagement on the ethical challenges that shape our communities, and for ongoing reflection on the university’s Shared Values. Its "Conversations on Morality, Politics, and Society” (COMPAS) program and civil discourse initiative promote informed and respectful discussion built on the “4 Cs”: Be Curious, Be Charitable, Be Conscientious, and Be Constructive.
The Ohio State Institute for Democratic Engagement and Accountability (IDEA) aims to further the mission of a great land grant university. It seeks to mobilize the resources of the academy to serve the public good in our local, state, national, and international communities. It focuses on three related areas: generating and disseminating knowledge about American political institutions, with a special emphasis on elections; studying and fostering high-quality political dialogue and deliberation; and furthering the university’s mission announced in its motto: "education for citizenship.”
The Divided Community Project was developed by persons and institutions committed to the belief that dispute resolution practitioners, policymakers and scholars can make a tangible, constructive contribution to helping leaders and citizens in communities seared by tensions, unrest, and civil discord … to strengthen and expand their capacity and resiliency meet these challenges.