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July 9–13, 2023

July 23–27, 2023

Sphere Summit Home


Congratulations and welcome to Sphere Summit: Teaching Civic Culture Together! It is our great pleasure to welcome you to this seminar where we will explore critical debates from policy makers, scholars, and thought leaders as well the foundations of civil society and civic culture.

Across this private website and platform you’ll find useful information to support your time at Summit, including digital versions of the program booklet, speaker bios, and free books and resources.

The Sphere Summit aims to restore a spirit of civil, constructive, and respectful discourse and engagement and to return facts, analysis, and research to primacy as the vehicles for discussion and debate.

The objectives of the Sphere Summit include:

Civic Culture: Explore and address the current state of public discourse, partisanship, and tribalism in America.

Foundations: Discuss shared values essential to a restoration of civic culture.

Applications: Demonstrate and share tools and approaches for the classroom on current public policy issues from diverse viewpoints. Other topics will include the U.S. Constitution, the rule of law, and freedom of expression.

Understanding Each Other: Examine political philosophies — progressive, libertarian, and conservative — and engage with leading scholars and educators on how to communicate effectively with, and understand the viewpoints of, audiences with diverse perspectives. Adherents of the various political philosophies will explain the ways in which those philosophies are often misunderstood.

Policy Discussions: Analyze key policy issues from diverse perspectives with an emphasis on shared values and common objectives, guided by scholars from leading public policy organizations and academic institutions.

The Sphere Summit is an off‐​the‐​record, invitation‐​only event, which means that sessions cannot be recorded or otherwise retained by attendees or participants. It is prohibited for any Summit sessions to be posted or live‐​streamed on social media or on any other outlet.

Participants are expected to attend all the sessions during the Sphere Summit. This includes all lectures, workshops, and breakouts.

Code of Conduct

The Cato Institute is dedicated to making sure that our Summit is a welcoming experience for everyone, regardless of gender, race, or any other personal characteristic. We do not tolerate harassment of Summit participants in any form. Inappropriate language and imagery are not permitted in any Summit venue, including anything communicated during the Summit, on social media, or in any other online outlet. Summit participants who violate these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the Summit at the discretion of organizers, and appropriate legal action will be taken where applicable.

Recording/​Use of Image or Likeness

The Sphere Summit will be recorded, and its sounds and images may be used for promotion, rebroadcast, archives, and Cato publications. Your participation in the Sphere Summit program constitutes permission to the Cato Institute for the use of your name, picture, image, likeness, and voice in any telecast, print account, or in any other medium.