Emory launches Center for Civic Reasoning to foster constructive dialogue

Emory University’s new Center for Civic Reasoning will prepare students for democratic citizenship through courses that study how to engage in constructive disagreements around issues related to politics and daily life.

The center is co-led by founding directors Zachary Peskowitz, Masse-Martin NEH Professor of Political Science, and Pablo Montagnes, associate professor of data and decision sciences and political science. 

Peskowitz and Montagnes, who have been Emory colleagues for more than a decade, co-taught a pilot course called “Policy Debates: Left and Right” in fall 2025. The course’s immediate success and popularity were signs of students’ appetite for good-faith political discussion and for digging deeper into collaborative policy solutions. 

Now, with the Center for Civic Reasoning, Peskowitz and Montagnes are bringing more of those opportunities to Emory.

“I see the creation of the Center for Civic Reasoning as an investment in our students, our faculty and the university’s broader responsibility to ensure that rigorous inquiry informs public life,” says Badia Ahad, Emory provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, whose office is supporting the center. 

“We want our students to graduate with the intellectual confidence and agility to examine competing ideas, the humility to learn from perspectives different from their own, and the ability to lead with both evidence and empathy,” Ahad says. “That is the kind of education this center is designed to foster. By creating new opportunities for research, dialogue and collaboration, we are also laying the groundwork for an even stronger tradition of public engagement.”
 

Toward the ‘good life’

Peskowitz describes the center’s philosophy with a quote from John Stuart Mill’s “On Liberty”: “He who knows only his side of the case knows little of that.”

“In American society, there’s a lot of political polarization,” Peskowitz says. “I see the center as an attempt to engage with this societal challenge. It's very important for Emory students to experience and get exposure to constructive disagreements, both for their time in college, and after they leave — in their careers and as citizens.”

The center’s classes, Montagnes says, unpack the practical realities of political disagreement. 

“We’re focused on an evidence-based approach to policy debates,” he explains. “There are many reasons why people disagree, and we explore those” — whether a difference in worldview, the perceived practicality of an issue or personal or cultural values.

The center is also building a co-curricular life around its courses. It will bring a slate of invited guests to campus throughout the year, starting Sept. 29 with a fireside chat on “Bridging America’s Divides” with Jeff Flake, former U.S. senator and ambassador to Turkey.

Partnering with university groups like Emory’s Barkley Forum for Debate, Deliberation, and Dialogue, the center will host events for students to practice productive discourse. The center has also launched an inaugural cohort of Civic Reasoning Fellows, who will pursue their own independent projects and work with Peskowitz and Montagnes on shaping programs, debates and events.

In spring 2027, the center will introduce a new course, “Progress and Prosperity,” which provides an optimistic look at human progress. The course will explore why the modern world grew rich, what makes societies invent and build, and why the things we need most — such as housing, energy and cures — are so hard to produce.

Peskowitz emphasizes that the center is not designed to change anyone’s mind. Instead, it exists to help “navigate differences,” a skill he says is useful far beyond the political arena.

“These courses supplement any major or career really well,” Peskowitz adds. “Engaging in disagreement, understanding where different people are coming from and knowing the foundations of their beliefs — those traits will always be valuable.”

Montagnes believes developing these skills is a key component of an Emory education.

“I think the social contract of universities is to help give students the tools to live and understand ‘the good life,’” he explains. “We don't want to uproot anyone's views, but we want students to be able to water their own roots and understand themselves better. We can do that by putting different viewpoints in dialogue with one another.”
 

A unique focus: Contemporary public policy

Peskowitz says there is nothing quite like the center currently in existence — and that with it, Emory has emerged as a leader in the space of civic thought and engagement. He views the center as distinct from civic-minded programs that have recently emerged with a humanistic focus on the founding of the United States. 

In true liberal arts fashion, the center’s approach blends the social sciences and humanities by incorporating disciplines from political and data science to philosophy, economics, history and more.

The center’s courses engage with the most important, and at times divisive, issues of modern life: tax policies, abortion, crime, the second amendment, the nuclear family, and many other contentious topics.

“What’s unique about this center is its focus on contemporary public policy, using not just humanistic tools, but also psychological and social scientific ones to understand debate and disagreement around issues that affect students every day,” Peskowitz says. 

“We’re thinking of what it means to embrace liberal arts,” Montagnes adds. “We’re also looking at how student and faculty interaction takes place. The center is not just a collection of classes. We see this as a curricular and co-curricular experience.”  
 

Helping students become better civic leaders

As part of that co-curricular experience, the center will host prominent guest speakers to lead discussions on their particular political perspectives. Last year, the “Policy Debates” class hosted former Florida U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, who is an Emory alumnus, as well as Melissa Kearney, renowned economics professor and expert on the family, from the University of Notre Dame.

Peskowitz and Montagnes also plan to partner with a variety of student groups for special events, as well as with departments and schools across the university.

“We want to engage with the students outside of the classroom, because what’s special about doing this at Emory is that these students will be future leaders,” Montagnes says. “They care about policy and organizational and societal change in a variety of dimensions. This center is going to make them better civic leaders.”

For Peskowitz, the center represents Emory’s commitment to pedagogical innovation.

“This shows that teaching is taken seriously at Emory, and that it is rewarded,” says Peskowitz, citing the support of the Office of the Provost. “When you’re in a classroom and students are receptive, and you see that intellectual spark of excitement, there’s nothing like it.”

“We’re just very excited to devote our careers to this as a future endeavor,” Montagnes agrees. “We did the legwork with our initial course, and to see that recognized and embraced by the university so quickly is extremely rewarding, professionally and intellectually. There’s a sense of entrepreneurship in the liberal arts at Emory that I think is very rare.”