On May 2, The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) held a conference titled, “Can Citizens Be Friends?” at the seminary’s New York City campus. The conference examined themes of “civic enmity and the possibility of civic friendship in our hyper-polarized society.” The event was sponsored by the JTS Hendel Center for Ethics and Justice and generously supported by the Fetzer Institute. 

Ismail Royer, Director of RFI’s Islam & Religious Freedom Action Team, helped arrange funding for the JTS conference by introducing it to the Fetzer Institute as an extension of RFI’s Virtues Project. Fetzer has generously funded the Virtues Project and the associated online course, Virtues in the Public Square. The organizer of the JTS conference, Prof. Alan Mittleman, is an associated scholar of the project. Royer attended the conference and a dinner with the organizers and presenters.  

Watch the conference video: