Civil Discourse Lab

The cultivation of a thriving school community is both a deeply fulfilling and immensely challenging endeavor—one that is made even more complex as school leaders are tasked with guiding their communities through intricate political and social landscapes. How can school leaders create conditions for critical engagement with multiple perspectives, respect for the opinions of others, and the willingness and intellectual courage to explore opinions that teachers and students might find uncomfortable?

At this year’s Civil Discourse Lab: Grappling with the Discomfort of Pluralism, Close Up, in partnership with the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), will help school leaders explore the principles of, and best practices in, open inquiry and dialogue while examining how efforts to foster inclusivity, broaden perspectives, and promote opportunities for all connect to preparing youth to participate in a thriving, diverse, and pluralistic democracy.

Dates & Location: July 28-30, 2025, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

Intended Audience: This program will benefit school heads, assistant heads, division heads, communications directors, diversity directors, and social studies department leaders, among others. Schools are encouraged to attend as teams of up to four participants. If you are not a member of NAIS, please contact us at programsupport@closeup.org for any registration questions.

Add-On Opportunity: Civil Discourse Credential Educator Certification, July 30-31, 2025

Close Up, in partnership with Mastery Transcript Consortium, is creating a Civil Discourse Credential to recognize high school students who have demonstrated mastery across three key domains: Digital Citizenship, Communication Across Difference, and Analyzing Political and Social Issues. If you’re a student-facing educator, you have the opportunity to join a supplemental two-day training following the Civil Discourse Lab to introduce this credential to your students. The training will focus on a range of communication and analytical skills and civic competencies to develop democratic citizens capable of active participation in a large, complex, media-driven democracy.

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As longtime partners, Close Up and the Deliberative Democracy Lab at Stanford University (DDL) have seen the power of bringing young people together to obtain the knowledge and skills of thoughtful communication and deliberation across differences. We are continuing this important work by offering our multi-day NextGen Roundtable: Civil Discourse Lab to students looking to deepen their understanding of policymaking, develop empathy for people who hold very different views, and think critically about their own beliefs, ideas, and assumptions.

In this intensive, four-day deliberation program, high school students will take part in a series of workshops, deliberations, and an expert panel to:

• Investigate a range of views and proposals around a pressing policy issue.
• Review balanced resources to develop their knowledge and a comprehensive understanding of differing viewpoints.
• Engage with elected officials and public policy experts who hold a range of views and reflect on the importance of hearing from multiple perspectives in a democracy.

Dates & Location: The program will be held in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area on the following dates:

• August 26-29, 2025
• January 20-23, 2026
• April 7-10, 2026

Intended Audience: This customizable high school program can be offered as part of a community-building orientation, for a specific course, or for a particular grade level. When possible, we will partner schools together to increase the range of perspectives and backgrounds present for deliberation. Contact programsupport@closeup.org if you are interested in customizing a program or to learn more about middle school opportunities.

Tuition: The tuition is approximately $1,500 per student and includes educational materials, hotel accommodations (two per room), meals, and evening activities. Final program cost will be determined upon finalizing dates (and the optional transportation package).

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