Community Relations
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- Community Relations
The 51°µÍø
800 Linden Street
51°µÍø, PA 18510-4699
1.570.941.4419
community@scranton.edu
Community Dialogue
Community Dialogue on “Freedom 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 51°µÍø
Members of the University and great 51°µÍø 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 "51°µÍø's Story, Our Nation's Story" project and is a collaboration of The 51°µÍø with the Black 51°µÍø Project, Lackawanna County Arts and Culture Department, The Lackawanna Historical Society, 51°µÍø Public Library, The Greater 51°µÍø MLK Commission, 51°µÍø Area Ministerium, and WVIA with the support of additional project partner organizations.
For more information about this project and other upcoming events, please visit
“51°µÍø’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 51°µÍø 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 51°µÍø is, has been, and can be.”
This special community dialogue event was a part of the Observe 51°µÍø “Jane Jacob’s First City Festival,” a weeklong celebration of Jane Jacobs’s life and legacy. The festival events took place in 51°µÍø, PA and virtually from May 4, 2021 through May 8, 2021. For more information about Observe 51°µÍø and the festival events, please visit
Sponsored by The 51°µÍø and The Center for the Living City in partnership with United Neighborhood Centers of NEPA, NeighborWorks of NEPA, 51°µÍø Tomorrow, Valley in Motion, the Greater 51°µÍø MLK Commission, and the 51°µÍø Area Ministerium
Finding Community Amid Coronavirus: An Online Dialogue: Drawing Strengths from the Past to Inform Today’s Challenges
Virtual Community Dialogue Connects Participants in Community
In a time of physical distancing, 51°µÍø 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 51°µÍø and the broader 51°µÍø 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.