In this keynote address, we will explore how faculty can re-frame difficult dialogues in ways that foster trust, curiosity, and understanding in service of the larger civic mission of higher education. Drawing from the principles of constructive dialogue, Dr. Nicholas Longo will discuss how educators can create democratic spaces where students learn to listen, share stories, and find common ground—environments that cultivate constructive dialogue and collaborative problem-solving. The session will utilize case studies to practice addressing conflict in healthy ways and to empower students to build the skills needed for respectful discourse, critical thinking, and civic engagement. Faculty from all disciplines will leave with strategies to integrate these practices into their teaching.

Nicholas V. Longo is a chair and professor of Global Studies and co-director of the Dialogue, Inclusion, and Democracy (DID) Lab at Providence College.

Nick is an advisory board member for College Unbound, a college working to re-invent higher education for returning adult learners, where he also teaches in the prison education program. He consults with some of the leading national civic engagement organizations, including serving as a deliberative dialogue fellow for Campus Compact, a faculty consultant for AAC&U’s Institute for Experiential Learning and Engaged Dialogue, and an educator for the Constructive Dialogue Institute. He formerly served as a program officer at the Charles F. Kettering Foundation, the inaugural director of the Harry T. Wilks Leadership Institute at Miami University in Ohio, and the director of Campus Compact’s national youth civic engagement initiative, Raise Your Voice. 

Nick is author of a number of books, articles, and reports on civic education, deliberative dialogue, youth civic engagement, and community-based learning. His publications include Why Community Matters: Connecting Education with Civic Life (SUNY Press) and several co-edited volumes, including Creating Space for Democracy: A Primer on Dialogue and Deliberation in Higher Education and Deliberative Pedagogy: Teaching and Learning for Democratic Engagement. He also published the free online guides: Practicing Democracy: A Toolkit for Educating Civic Professionals, along with the forthcoming Engaging Community: A Toolkit for Reciprocal Teaching and Learning Beyond the Campus (with AAC&U and Campus Compact).

He was awarded the Early Career Research Award from the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLLCE) in 2009 and was the 2022 recipient of the Innovation in Teaching Excellence Award from Providence College. He holds a master’s in public affairs and a Ph.D. in education from the University of Minnesota. 

Nick lives in Providence, Rhode Island with his wife, Aleida. Together, they have a great passion for educating the next generation of democratic citizens, starting with their children, Maya and Noah.