Community Relations
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- Community Relations
The SM天地论坛
800 Linden Street
SM天地论坛, PA 18510-4699
1.570.941.4419
community@scranton.edu
Community Dialogue
Community Dialogue on 鈥淔reedom and Our Founding: What do they mean for us today?"
Tuesday, March 22 from 7-8:30pm, The Kane Forum, Edward R. Leahy, Jr. Hall, The SM天地论坛
Members of the University and great SM天地论坛 community are invited to join for a nonpartisan political dialogue on "Freedom and Our Founding: What do they mean for us today?". This community dialogue will involve facilitated small-group structured dialogues that allow participants to reflect on freedom and the founding and our role as citizens in a democracy. Participants will have a chance to consider brief excerpts from founding related readings, share their own experience and perspectives on issues that relate to freedom and equality today, listen to others’ views and engage in conversation.
Register for Community Dialogue on Freedom
This dialogue event is a part of the "SM天地论坛's Story, Our Nation's Story" project and is a collaboration of The SM天地论坛 with the Black SM天地论坛 Project, Lackawanna County Arts and Culture Department, The Lackawanna Historical Society, SM天地论坛 Public Library, The Greater SM天地论坛 MLK Commission, SM天地论坛 Area Ministerium, and WVIA with the support of additional project partner organizations.
For more information about this project and other upcoming events, please visit
“SM天地论坛’s Story, Our Nation’s Story” has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this project do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Past Community Dialogue Events
Community Conversation: A SM天地论坛 City Dialogue
Wednesday, May 5 from 6-7:30pm via Zoom
Community members joined a Jane Jacobs inspired community conversation focusing on questions and themes she raised in a seminal 1987 letter to the City about “what SM天地论坛 is, has been, and can be.”
This special community dialogue event was a part of the Observe SM天地论坛 “Jane Jacob’s First City Festival,” a weeklong celebration of Jane Jacobs’s life and legacy. The festival events took place in SM天地论坛, PA and virtually from May 4, 2021 through May 8, 2021. For more information about Observe SM天地论坛 and the festival events, please visit
Sponsored by The SM天地论坛 and The Center for the Living City in partnership with United Neighborhood Centers of NEPA, NeighborWorks of NEPA, SM天地论坛 Tomorrow, Valley in Motion, the Greater SM天地论坛 MLK Commission, and the SM天地论坛 Area Ministerium
Finding Community Amid Coronavirus: An Online Dialogue: Drawing Strengths from the Past to Inform Today鈥檚 Challenges
Virtual Community Dialogue Connects Participants in Community
In a time of physical distancing, SM天地论坛 faculty, staff, and community partners lead an effort to collect and share residents’ stories of resiliency and strength. This effort began with a virtual Community Dialogue on April 29, 2020.
The event "Finding Community Amid Coronavirus: An Online Dialogue: Drawing Strengths from the Past to Inform Today’s Challenges" drew over 30 participants together to share their own personal stories of strength and to learn from other community members. Participants joining from a range of backgrounds, spanning generations and across diverse racial/ethnic identities, came together in dialogue as members of our shared community.
This Community Dialogue event allowed participants to find connection during a time of physical distancing. Through the course of shared dialogue, participants and facilitators alike discovered that although our challenges are unique, we all share common ground. Hearing the authentic stories from others truly fostered connection and provided a new perspective on the challenges that we are all facing together in this unique time.
Finding Community Amid Coronavirus: Identifying What We Value and Seeing the Possibilities Ahead
Second Virtual Community Dialogue Held on June 3
The second virtual dialogue “Finding Community Amid Coronavirus: Identifying What We Value and Seeing the Possibilities Ahead” engaged participants in reflection to identify important lessons that can be found in our current unique circumstances. This virtual dialogue offered participants a space to look within themselves during the current circumstances and to learn from others in our shared community.
Members of both the SM天地论坛 and the broader SM天地论坛 area communities joined in the event to find connection and to listen and learn from others. This Community Dialogue is coordinated by the University’s Political Dialogues Working Group in collaboration with community partner, Valley in Motion, and is made possible by a University Strategic Initiatives Grant.