This paper explores the vital role of culture and the arts in promoting civic education and fostering a culture of social peace and responsible citizenship. It argues that artistic expression, whether through music, visual arts, or performance, serves as a transformative tool for shaping values of empathy, dialogue, and coexistence within diverse communities. By integrating arts-based learning into civic education, societies can nurture critical thinking, cultural awareness, and moral responsibility, enabling individuals to engage more actively in public life. The study highlights how cultural and artistic practices bridge emotional and intellectual dimensions of citizenship, turning civic values from abstract concepts into lived experiences. Ultimately, the paper calls for recognizing the arts not as a luxury, but as a cornerstone of civic formation and social harmony.
The Civic Education and Religions Conference, titled “Joint Efforts in Building a Culture of Social Peace and Citizenship” and held in Jordan (September 22, 2025), provided a significant platform for exploring the intersections of culture, education, and civic responsibility. The paper “Culture and the Arts: The Path to Civic Education” examined how artistic expression functions as a catalyst for empathy, dialogue, and coexistence within diverse communities. It emphasized that music, theatre, dance, and visual arts are not peripheral to civic development but central to nurturing critical thinking, compassion, and moral awareness. By translating civic values into lived artistic experiences, cultural practice becomes an accessible and transformative form of education—one that connects emotional intelligence with social participation. The discussion called for a renewed understanding of art as an essential pillar of civic formation, reinforcing its power to unite people across religious, cultural, and social boundaries in the pursuit of peace and shared humanity.
Integrate Arts into Civic Curricula: Encourage schools and universities to embed arts-based methods in civic and moral education programs to promote active, empathetic citizenship.
Cross-Sector Collaboration: Foster partnerships between ministries of culture, education, and religious affairs to design holistic cultural programs that strengthen social peace.
Community Arts Initiatives: Support local art projects and cultural festivals that engage citizens in creative dialogues on coexistence, ethics, and community building.
Training for Educators: Equip teachers and cultural leaders with the skills to use the arts as tools for civic engagement and intercultural understanding.
Research and Documentation: Encourage further interdisciplinary studies on the relationship between art, civic identity, and social cohesion in Jordan and the wider region.