This Planning and Action Forum—the second in a year-long series sponsored by the Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement Coalition and the University of Virginia’s Karsh Institute of Democracy—takes as a given that, for U.S. democracy to succeed, Americans must know how to work together across difficult differences—racial, ethnic, socio-economic, political—and collaboratively create real-world solutions to the deep seated problems that divide societies and threaten the planet.

Toward this end, the Forum examines a broad range of strategies that higher education is developing now to help college students:

• probe democracy’s history, constitutional foundations, and possible futures;
• gain the skills needed to bridge difficult difference; become collaborative problem-solvers; and
• develop a strong sense of civic agency and responsibility.