Discussion Guides & Other Resources
Looking for discussion guides or other materials to help facilitate or organize an interactive discussion program? We have over 30 discussion guides on a wide variety of public policy topics. Our discussion guides are non-partisan, presenting 5-9 different approaches or policy “possibilities” for the topic. You can view them online or download them for free. We also have other discussion resources available without charge, including “how-to” guidebooks on facilitating and other practical aspects of planning and conducting a discussion program.
Planning a Discussion Program?
We may be able to help. We have partnered with a wide range of organizations, including public, private, educational, nonprofit, and other groups, to provide direct in-kind assistance in planning, organizing, and conducting different discussion programs and initiatives. We’re always looking for new partners to work with in developing more and better exploratory and generative conversations. Depending on the particular goals and circumstances of your program, we may be able to help with planning, facilitating, or training facilitators.
Resources for Educators
Interested in using student-facilitated discussions in your classroom or online course? For over a decade, we have partnered with faculty to integrate our discussion process into higher education settings. We have a number of different resources for instructors and students for use in both in-person and online courses. These resources provide practical guidance on implementing student-facilitated discussions and include guidebooks, workbooks, sample syllabi, evaluation forms, and other course materials.
Recent News
Hidden Heroes: Fred Korematsu
A Forty Year Struggle for Vindication Fred Korematsu was born in California in 1919 to parents who came to America from Japan in 1905. His family had a flower nursery. As a young man, he experienced considerable racism. He was drafted to military service in 1940...
The Invasion of Ukraine & What it Means for Democracy – Looking Forward to Different Possibilities for Peace
In our third and final conversion exploring the Invasion of Ukraine & What it Means for Democracy, participants looked forward and explored different ideas of what an end to this war might entail, what some form of peace might look like, how we might get there,...
Freedom of Speech: A Community Conversation about Four Freedoms (Part 1 of 4)
Freedom lies at the heart of democracy, but what does it mean? We launched our new four-part exploratory conversation series, Four Freedoms: The Spirit of Democracy Today and Tomorrow, with a collaborative conversation about freedom of speech. What does freedom of...