About the Center for Public Conversation

The Center for Public Conversation at the Institute for American Values seeks to improve the civility and seriousness of our national conversation, particularly on topics related to marriage and families, thrift and generosity, and our engagement with the Arab and Muslim world.

To carry out our mission we:

• Host live "public conversations" at our Center in New York, which are also live-streamed;
• Produce podcasts of these conversations;
• Maintain a website, CenterforPublicConversation.org, which promotes upcoming conversations and serves as the video library of past conversations, and finally
• Produce a free quarterly newsletter, Propositions, intended to advance excellence in public conversation and promote awareness of the Center's activities.

The Center seeks to model a certain type of conversation: We want to do all that we can to transcend the rancor, coarseness, and hyper-partisanship that characterizes all too much of our current national discussion. Therefore, we sponsor "discussions" rather than "debates" and we will strive always to model civility, seriousness, and openness to diverse views.

Our main goal is not to win certain arguments; it's rather to improve the way that we as a society talk to one another about important public issues.

To be kept informed about upcoming conversations, please join our mailing list.