This document describes a program called Community Conversations, a joint effort between Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society of the two-year college, and the Community College Humanities Association. The program consisted of a series of national and regional conversations among students and community members, addressing what it means to be an American. Highlights of the conversations, which took place at two-year institutions in Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Oregon, North and South Carolina, Texas, and Washington, include: (1) one theme that emerged repeatedly was the keen interaction and interplay between national issues and local issues; (2) participants defined themselves and their communities by a sense of place, yet noted the difficulties of overcoming isolation; (3) the continuing tragedy of racism provoked strong reactions from African Americans, and questions of racial difference and treatment occasionally brought conversations to a halt; (4) the conversations augmented people's sense of community and clarified their understanding of questions of American identity. Each conversation is described in detail. This paper also presents guidelines for conversation leaders--step-by-step suggestions on how to plan and organize these types of conversations. Appended is information on the community conversation leaders, Phi Theta Kappa, and the Community College Humanities Association. (JA)