About Renewing Our Civic Culture
Renewing Our Civic Culture is an initiative designed to demonstrate how respectful dialogue across differing perspectives can help to bridge divides, reduce affective polarization, and foster empathy. By encouraging deeper mutual understanding and highlighting common values and concerns, this effort aims to strengthen the fabric of our civic community. In collaboration with a range of campus and community partners, UWM’s Divisions of Community Empowerment and Institutional Inclusivity (CEII) and Student Affairs (DSA) host speakers and events that enrich campus conversations and promote inclusive engagement.
“At the Table” Dialogues and Facilitation Training
Funded by a grant from the Wisconsin Institute of Citizenship and Civil Dialogue (WICCD), At the Table is a pilot program intended to promote civil dialogue at UWM and build facilitation skills among students and instructors.
During the Spring 2026 semester, undergraduate students and professors were selected to complete dialogue facilitation training. Each student was paired with a faculty mentor, and these student–mentor pairs are designing small group dialogue events to lead during April and early May.
These dialogue events are opportunities for members of the UWM community to gather over meals for meaningful conversation and respectful, open exchange.
Civil Dialogue at UWM
Civil dialogue programming at UWM provides opportunities for students, staff and faculty to deepen understanding, refine their perspectives and build community across campus. In this video, hear from students and leaders who participated in the Spring 2025 Dinner Dialogues.
“The Virtues of Civil Discourse” Lecture
On October 17, 2025, we hosted a guest lecture by Dr. Jed Atkins, Dean of the School of Civic Life and Leadership at UNC-Chapel Hill. The lecture was followed by a meal with facilitated dialogue at each table. This event, free and open to the public, was made possible by a grant from the Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership.
In his talk, Dean Atkins explored how civic discourse—the practice of deliberating with others as fellow members of a shared community—can be taught and practiced on campus. Drawing from real-life stories in the classroom and beyond, he showed how higher education may equip students to live, learn, and listen as members of our pluralistic democracy.
Watch the recording below of Dean Atkins’ lecture.