Lara Schwartz (she/her/hers) is the founding director of the American University Project on Civic Dialogue (formerly Project on Civil Discourse) and teaches at the American University School of Public Affairs. She trains student dialogue facilitators, teaches courses on dialogue, dispute resolution, free expression, and civil rights, and holds workshops on inclusive pedagogy and free expression. In her career as a lawyer with national civil rights organizations, Schwartz worked to pass the federal hate crimes bill, repeal the US military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, protect and expand services and supports for disabled people and families, and preserve access to the civil justice system. She has served on her university’s working group on freedom of expression and was a fellow with the University of California National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement. Schwartz’s book, Try to Love the Questions: From Debate to Dialogue in Classrooms and Life (Princeton University Press 2024), gives college students a framework for understanding and practicing dialogue across difference. Schwartz is the coauthor of How to College: What to Know Before You Go (And When You’re There). Schwartz holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and an AB in English and American Literature from Brown University.