The World We Want to Build
From reading about civility to living it—an invitation to rehumanize our public life
Welcome to Civic Renaissance, an intellectual home for those who believe beauty, goodness, and truth still matter, and that the wisdom of the past can help us build freer, fuller lives today. I’m Alexandra Hudson, author of The Soul of Civility, and this is where we move from ideas to action.
Gracious reader,
In so many of the conversations I have been having recently, one question keeps surfacing:
How do we actually practice the kind of civility I write about, seeing others as they really are—beings with dignity and equal moral worth—and lead our communities in a way that helps people flourish across difference?
It is one thing to understand these ideas.
It is another to live them.
Our public life is marked by loneliness, division, and a growing sense of powerlessness. Beneath our division lies a deeper crisis of dehumanization. We reduce one another to positions, tribes, headlines, and one opinion they hold or thing they’ve done. We’ve forgotten how to see others as they really are: beings with dignity and equal moral worth, worthy of a bare minimum of respect simply by virtue of our shared personhood.
The Civic Renaissance Retreat counters that crisis by rehumanizing our public life, beginning with ourselves.
From idea to lived experience
Since The Soul of Civility was published, leaders across geography, vocation, and political persuasion have reached out to ask the same question:
What now?
How do I live this?
How do I lead my community or institution in flourishing across difference?
This retreat is the answer.
On April 24–25, I will host the Civic Renaissance Retreat.
A Feast for Mind, Body, and Spirit.
Soul of Civility in Action
Over the course of the weekend, we will bring to life Soul of Civility in Action, a framework for cultural and communal transformation:
Discover. Ignite. Embody. Celebrate.
Discover
Participants will come prepared with a shared intellectual foundation, allowing us to begin not at the surface, but with depth.
Ignite
Friday evening begins at the table.
We gather around a family-style feast. Dishes are passed. Wine is poured. Glasses are raised. People lean in. Conversation moves across the table, not confined to one place, but shared.
If the weather permits, we will dine alfresco beneath the colonnade, the evening air moving through the space, the setting inviting attention and presence.
My home is built of stone and brick and natural materials that echo an older architectural tradition, spaces that slow the pace of life and draw people into conversation.
Hospitality is a high and noble expression of civility.
The evening will include a fireside conversation with Daryl Davis and Mitch Daniels.
Daryl Davis has spent decades building relationships across some of the deepest divides in American life. Through patient conversation and human encounter, he has persuaded many members of the Ku Klux Klan to leave the organization.
Mitch Daniels is a world-class leader who has served in some of the most consequential arenas of American public life, including as Governor of Indiana and president of Purdue University. His leadership reflects a rare kind of statesmanship, one that calls forth the best in citizens and demonstrates that principled, unifying leadership is not a relic of the past.
Embody
On Saturday, we move from reflection into practice.
Participants will gain practical tools for how to live this work and how to rehumanize public life and engage difference with dignity.
We will explore two ideas that communities across the country have found especially powerful.
Unoffendability
The practice of reclaiming our agency by focusing on what we can control rather than reacting to every provocation.
Unbundling people is the superpower of the 21st century.
In a culture that trains us to reduce others to one belief, one vote, or one statement, unbundling people restores our capacity to see the part in light of the whole—the dignity of the other in light of the part of them we disagree with.
Then we will move into an Unconference.
This is where we learn from one another and decide what to build together.
We will hold three working sessions.
Ourselves
What does it take to become the kind of people capable of engaging disagreement without losing our center?
Our communities
What can we build where we live, work, worship, learn, and gather?
Nationally
What direction should this movement take?
The room will be intentionally interdisciplinary. Mayors, city councilors, state representatives, former governors, Ivy League professors, school teachers, and other civic leaders will be present.
We will learn from one another.
We will harness the intellectual potential in the room.
We will dream together about the world we want to build.
Celebrate
We return again to the table.
A final feast.
Glasses raised.
Laughter shared.
A sense that something has begun.
Celebration marks what has been built. It gives us a lived experience of the kind of world we are working toward, not as an idea, but as something we have tasted together.
Why this matters now
We are entering a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence.
In that world, what is automated will expand. What is efficient will accelerate. What can be scaled will multiply.
And what is human will become more rare, and more valuable.
Presence cannot be automated.
Conversation cannot be replicated.
A shared table cannot be digitized.
Gatherings like this, where people come together in person, attend to one another, and build something together, will only become more essential.
If we are serious about rehumanizing our public life, we must double down on the practices that form us as human beings.
The work begins with us
For one weekend, we will embody the world we are trying to build.
We will leave with practical tools and renewed imagination to carry that work back into our communities.
We cannot control others.
But we can control ourselves.
And the more of us who choose to reclaim our civic power, our agency, we may be able to change our broken world.
Changing our broken world begins with us.
When we begin healing the habits of our own hearts and minds, we begin healing our communities and our society as well.
Join us
Because this gathering is intentionally small, with a focus on real conversation and relationship, the standard ticket is $450. This helps make possible the kind of setting we are creating together: generous tables, thoughtfully prepared meals, and a level of hospitality that reflects the abundance we are trying to cultivate.
At the same time, I know circumstances differ, and I do not want cost to be a barrier for anyone who feels called to be part of this.
So I am offering the retreat on a donation basis as well. If you are able to contribute at the full level, that helps sustain gatherings like this and makes it possible for others to be in the room. If not, you are warmly welcome to give what you can.
What matters most is having the right people in the room.
Spaces are intentionally limited.
If this resonates with you, I would love for you to join us.
Looking ahead:
Carlow University, Pittsburgh, March 18, 2026- I’m looking forward to speaking at Carlow University as part of their Impact Series. If you’re in the Pittsburgh area, join us! https://www.carlow.edu/impact-series-march18/
In the news:
A media interview about The Civic Renaissance Launch in Indianapolis last week - Fox 59: 11th annual Fairbanks Symposium- Watch here
A podcast interview with Michael Lee of the University of Charleston, When We Disagree Podcast: The Soul of Civility, Tested
What does civility demand when justice is costly and deeply personal? Alexandra Hudson, author of The Soul of Civility and founder of Civic Renaissance, shares a raw story about how being scammed sparked both a lengthy legal battle and a profound disagreement with her husband over whether to fight or walk away. Through that conflict, Hudson wrestles with whether civility means politeness or principled confrontation, and what it costs our families when moral crusades take over our lives. The episode explores civility not as courteousness or softness, but as disciplined respect for human dignity even when the stakes are high and the gloves stay firmly on.
Review of The Soul of Civility in Indiana Capital Chronicle: With all due respect
Hudson is not alone in her pursuit for civility. A recent surveyshared by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute’s Center on Civility and Democracy reported that 72% of Americans want to see more civility in our nation’s politics. The same survey found that Americans are divided on their outlook for our nation’s future, split nearly in half over whether to be optimistic or pessimistic about our ability to come together.
Review of The Soul of civility in Bitterroot Star: Disagree better
Our community is full of independent people who don’t like being told what to think. That’s a strength. But independence only works if we can argue honestly without tearing each other apart in the process. This book doesn’t offer a program or a slogan. It offers a reminder of the habits that make self-government possible.
Year Ago on Civic Renaissance:
Paideia, Humanitas, Civility and Education
Thank you for being part of our Civic Renaissance community!
