About Us

Dialogue is the engine that propels education and civic life. Dialogue is more than a “free exchange” of ideas; it is a mechanism that germinates, tests, shapes, and transforms them. To me, dialogue is what transforms a mere reading list into a course. It is by communicating with one another, listening to one another, and inquiring together that we come to know the world - and ourselves. 

Like other skills of scholarship- from quantitative research to persuasive writing- dialogue involves study and practice. The Project on Civic Dialogue, founded in 2018 as the Project on Civil Discourse, is committed to the study and practice of dialogue. Our programming reflects our shared desire to understand varying points of view, become effective communicators, and examine significant problems and questions with integrity. 

There are many ways to engage with our program: join our team of dialogue facilitators, where you can learn and practice methods of navigating disagreement, asking challenging questions, and communicating to be understood. Attend a peer-led discussion or a “disagree with a professor”event.  Engage in self reflection with the help of our Building my Voice tool. Host a student-led discussion in your course or program.  Or inquire about other dialogue opportunities and teaching tools. We welcome opportunities to collaborate with groups, courses, faculty and programs on and off campus. 

Lara Schwartz
Director

Lara Schwartz

Program Director

Lara Schwartz specializes in dialogue across differences, constitutional law, civil rights, politics, communications, and policy. Drawing on her experience as a legislative lawyer, lobbyist, and communications strategist in leading civil rights organizations, Lara encourages students to approach complex questions from multiple perspectives, listen generously to one another, challenge themselves, and support one another.

Prior to joining the SPA faculty, Lara served as Director of Strategic Engagement at the American Constitution Society for Law & Policy. Previously she served as Courts Matter director at Media Matters, Legal Director at the Human Rights Campaign, and Vice President of External Affairs at the American Association of People with Disabilities. Lara has appeared on national and local radio and television programs and written op-eds published in national papers and local papers of record. from June 2019-June 2020 she was a fellow at the University of California National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement.

Emily Blumberg

Program Coordinator

As PCD's inagural program coordinator, Emily works on curriculum development, event planning, marketing and outreach, and programmating support for PCD student fellows. She graduated from the University of Michigan in May 2024, where she studied communications and creative writing, wrote for her campus newspaper, and interned at her local NPR station. Most recently, she interned at PBS on their Station Services team, working to uplift local news content across the country. In addition to her work with PCD, she is working towards a Master of Arts in Journalism through the School of Communication.