It’s no secret that America is divided, having a hard time talking civilly or usefully across its divides.
Things don’t have to fall apart this way.
For 20-plus years, the leaders of the PA Project for Civic Engagement have helped people hold productive conversations about challenging issues.
We know that Americans of diverse views can talk about things that matter in a way that leads to insight, not insults, to learning, not lashing out.
AS PPCE’s first project as a unit of Seventy, we’d like to show this can be done in the birthplace of our democracy, just blocks from Independence Hall.
Can We Talk? is a two-part event.
The (free) morning dialogue about the current state of our nation will use a discussion model we’ve tested over the last two years with college students and faith communities.
In the afternoon workshop ($50 fee), we’ll offer a quick grounding in the theories of civil dialogue that undergird our model, then go deeper into how to ask questions, listen and respond in ways that foster productive conversation.
You can put what you’ll learn to use in your workplace, your community, your online interactions and your family.
(Key point: You can get plenty out of the afternoon workshop even if you can’t make it for the morning session. And vice versa. Attend either or both.)
Please join us to strike a blow for the notion that America isn’t doomed to division. Some hard work needs doing, but we can do it. Beginning here, in Philadelphia.
(If a scholarship would help you to attend, let us know by emailing lbreitstein@seventy.org.)