National constitutional scholar Jeffrey Rosen will be at Indiana University of Pennsylvania on November 9 as the IUP Center for Civic Dialogue’s Inaugural Distinguished Speaker.
Rosen’s public lecture and discussion, “Can We Still Talk? The Constitution, Disagreement, and Our Shared Future, An Evening with Jeffrey Rosen” is free and open to the community.
The program begins at 6:00 p.m. in Jane E. Leonard Hall room 225 on the IUP campus.
The kickoff event for the Center for Civic Dialogue, the program will explore the Constitution as an ongoing conversation—and the role individuals play in keeping that conversation thoughtful, informed, and open to different perspectives. The program will include conversations about the freedoms that allow people to disagree, including the protection of speech that some find offensive.
“Mr. Rosen is an outstanding choice for the Center for Civic Dialogue’s Inaugural Distinguished Speaker, and his topic is an excellent fit with the Center’s mission of encouraging opportunities for respectful and thoughtful dialogue and discussion,” IUP President Michael Driscoll said.
The Center for Civic Dialogue, established in January, serves as both physical and intellectual headquarters for civil discourse innovation at IUP. Rosen’s selection as the Inaugural Distinguished Speaker reflects the Center’s commitment to helping people engage across differences and participate thoughtfully in democracy.
“How do we share a campus, a community, and a country with people whose views we find difficult to understand? Those are everyday questions with real consequences,” said Gwen Torges, Center for Civic Dialogue executive team member and associate professor of political science in IUP’s Department of History, Philosophy, Political Science, and Religious Studies.
“Inaugural Distinguished Speaker Rosen has a wonderful ability to connect big constitutional ideas to the disagreements and decisions we encounter in our own lives,” she said.
“People tend to focus on elections, but democracy asks something of us between elections, too. It asks us to stay curious, consider ideas that challenge us and listen carefully to other people. Speaker Rosen’s visit is intended to begin a larger conversation about those everyday responsibilities of civic life,” Torges said.
The Center for Civic Dialogue was established through a $2.3 million grant from the federal Department of Education. Torges led the development of the grant proposal and provides scholarly subject matter expertise for all project activities.
“Understanding someone doesn’t mean agreeing with them,” Torges said. “We want people to leave with something worth thinking about and a little more curiosity about those we disagree with think about the world.”
Rosen is the CEO Emeritus of the National Constitution Center, a professor of law at the George Washington University Law School, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), and a contributing editor of The Atlantic. He was previously the legal affairs editor of The New Republic and a staff writer for the New Yorker.
He is the author of two New York Times’ bestsellers: The Pursuit of Happiness and Conversations with RBG. His latest book is The Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton vs. Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle Over Power in America.
Rosen is a graduate of Harvard College; Oxford University, where he was a Marshall Scholar; and Yale Law School. He is an elected member of the American Philosophical Society and the American Law Institute. In 2024, the French government recognized him as a Chevalier in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
Rosen spoke at IUP in 2019 as part of the university’s Free Speech Project, which was co-coordinated by Torges.
“What I especially appreciate about Jeff Rosen is how seriously he takes people’s questions. He listens carefully and responds in a way that makes people feel respected and comfortable asking more,” she said.
“That’s exactly the spirit we want to bring to the Center for Civic Dialogue. You don’t need a background in constitutional law to get something out of this event. Speaker Rosen makes complicated ideas accessible and interesting, and he welcomes thoughtful, and even skeptical, questions.”
“National studies show that college students increasingly struggle to engage in honest, open dialogue about controversial issues, including disagreeing during class discussions, and IUP students are not immune from this challenge,” Torges said. “The Center for Civic Dialogue is designed to provide structured opportunities to learn and practice constructive dialogue to provide sustained, developmentally sequenced practice in talking across differences,” she said.
Since its founding in 1875, IUP has evolved from a teacher-training institution into a doctoral research university recognized for its commitment to student success and achievement. IUP’s Impact 150 comprehensive campaign is designed to honor a legacy of educational excellence while looking toward a future of innovation, public service, and leadership in healthcare education, including the first college of osteopathic medicine at a public university in the commonwealth.