Join Spirit & Place this spring as it invites you to participate in a CIVIC CIRCLE exploring your understanding and commitment to religious pluralism.

Civic Circle gatherings invite you to reflect on our democracy and grapple with what it means to live by America’s civic values.  Whether or not you are a person of faith, the Constitution protects it all! So what does “religious pluralism” mean in terms of a shared civic or societal value? How is it different than religious liberty and how do we live into the work of nurturing a religiously pluralistic society?

Using the civic reflection dialogue method, this participatory gathering – you’ll be doing most of the talking! – aims to help you unpack your civic values with others who also care about their role as citizens, that is, as those who show up for each other in public life.

*ABOUT CIVIC REFLECTION
Engaging in a civic reflection dialogue is not the same at attending a lecture or discussing a book. This is an immersive experience around a shared source materials (e.g., a poem, short writing, visual image, etc.). As such, we’ll spend most of the time in small group dialogue. Active participation is a must!

*WHERE DID CIVIC CIRCLES COME FROM?
In January of 2018, Spirit & Place Program Director Erin Kelley became one of the first twenty fellows in the nation selected by Citizen University in Seattle to attend Civic Saturday training. Civic Saturdays are an analogue to a faith gathering and serve as time for the public to nurture a spirit of shared purpose, wrestle with moral questions, and develop a sense of civic character. To better align with Spirit & Place’s practice if using dialogue to spark transformational change, we are adapting the Civic Saturday format and launched CIVIC CIRCLES in 2022.

Questions? Email festival@iupui.edu.

Check out past Civic Saturday events below!