CAMPAIGN PRIORITIES

• Experiential Learning Fund
• Civility Initiative (CI) Fund
• Pre-law Program

WHEN “AGREEING TO DISAGREE” IS WHERE THE CONVERSATION STARTS INSTEAD OF WHERE IT ENDS, WE ALL LEARN MORE.

The Civility Initiative at the College of Charleston creates opportunities for students and the broader community to practice respectful disagreement and find common ground.

Healthy democracies depend on people’s ability to listen, engage and learn from perspectives different from their own.

Through speakers, panels, workshops and campus programming, this School of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) initiative helps participants develop the skills needed for productive conversations across differences. It addresses the challenges that can push people apart, including polarization, misinformation and isolation, while creating spaces where meaningful dialogue can take place.

The initiative also extends these conversations via media such as PBS News Hour and Fox & Friends as well as through When We Disagree, a podcast hosted by Michael Lee, communications professor, which explores the arguments, disputes and disagreements that stay with us long after they happen.

By inviting people to reflect on moments of conflict and what they learned from them, the podcast offers another way to understand the value of disagreement and its impact on our lives.