Welcome to the Marquette Civic Dialogues Program

"Unlike disagreement and conflict, persistent and courageous dialogue does not make headlines, but quietly helps the world to live much better than we imagine."

~ Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti

The Marquette Civic Dialogues Program works to foster deliberation about the pressing issues facing our world today, prepare students to be citizens with purpose, and advance scholarship on civic dialogue. Through our programming and research, we encourage students to "Be the Difference" by engaging differences in political thought and lived experience.

We launched our program in Fall 2021 with the generous support of donors. Since then, students have come together to discuss vexing public policy issues in our Dialogue Dinner series. Our Speaker Series has hosted voices from across the political spectrum -- from Ganesh Sitaraman, senior fellow at the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress, to Rich Lowry, editor in chief of the conservative National Review.

We've also engaged Marquette alumni through outreach and programming. Most importantly, we are strengthening civic relationships on campus and beyond. And we're just getting started. In our first year, Civic Dialogues events drew a total of just over 140 participants. Our Fall 2022 events alone drew 310 participants. Visit the Civic Dialogues calendar to see how we're growing the program!