Civility: "If one be gracious and courteous to strangers," wrote Francis Bacon, "it shows you are a citizen of the world." Protecting each other's dignity through thoughtful actions and kind speech holds together humanity. In this topic's many resources, you will find ancient teachings about and contemporary depictions of what it means to be civil and how civility pertains to community.
Conversations: The resources in this topic help you both find and create a hospitable spirit in your conversations. As you develop the art of conversation, you build community because, as C. Zaiss observes in Skilled Dialogue, the fundamental purpose of dialogue is "to create a shared understanding beyond our individual points of view."
Intentional Communities: According to Geoph Kozeny of Community Catalyst Project in San Francisco, California, an "intentional community is a group of people who have chosen to live together with a common purpose, working cooperatively to create a lifestyle that reflects their shared core values." These groups place a high priority on fostering mutual support that is increasingly hard to find in mainstream Western society.
