The Vanderbilt Civil Discourse Lab (CDL) is the university’s hub for student civil discourse and constructive dialogue education. The Civil Discourse Lab utilizes proven methodologies that equip students to engage with different perspectives while incorporating curiosity, empathy, open-mindedness and academic humility.
Civil Discourse Lab workshops and tools strengthen students’ ability to navigate difference and disagreement to make decisions and move forward together, building essential civil discourse habits.
Civil Discourse habits are leadership habits. This is not about “talking better”, it is about how leaders move from difference to understanding— and from conversation to action.
Habits shape outcomes. Just as physical fitness or health depends on daily choices, constructive dialogue depends on repeated behaviors. Dialogue, debate, and deliberation are daily collective habits—strengthening judgment, trust, and shared decision-making.
In a polarized society and an AI-transformed economy, leaders who drive impact combine intellectual rigor with the human skills required to navigate complexity and difference. Dialogue Vanderbilt helps prepare students to:
Navigate complexity and disagreement
Lead and build trust across differences
Make thoughtful and tough decisions together
Lead with integrity, humility, and purpose
Workshops are focused on how leaders learn, decide, and act together through dialogue, debate, and deliberation. Our workshops emphasize practical training and designed to be flexible and designed to work in and outside the classroom.
Our workshops are facilitated by Dialogue Vanderbilt Facilitation Fellows, emphasizing peer to peer learning.
Workshops are available for students, faculty, and graduate students.