Democracy is in trouble. For the last 10 years, the number of democratizing countries dropped by almost half to 16, hosting a mere 4% of the global population. Faced with these global trends, as well as democracy's challenges during the first two decades of the twenty-first century, how can communication studies contribute to the study of civic engagement and student learning today? Future research should engage questions of deliberative pedagogy across communication education. To engage differences constructively, evaluate information critically, and learn democratically, people must be open to learning from efforts building these environments within --and beyond--higher education.