Fostering political conversations: 6 campus strategies

Encouraging curiosity about people with opposing views can go a long way to engender mutual respect. Klaus Vedfelt via Getty Images With deep divisions on college campuses – most recently over the conflict in the Gaza Strip and Israel – many observers fear that universities are not places where students can discuss divisive issues with people who disagree with them. In my research and teaching, I have seen that students in fact want to have difficult conversations across divides, but they need support from faculty and other facilitators in order for these discussions to go well. Since early 2017, I have been observing events on college campuses in which students are brought together with peers with whom they disagree to talk about politics. In these sessions, facilitators provide students with guiding questions that help them to understand their peers’ political views. I conducted follow-up interviews with students a few weeks afterward and, when possible, three years later. My aim is to understand what happens in these conversations. I want to know: Who learns what from whom? Who feels satisfied or frustrated, and why? And what does this all portend for America’s democracy? The conversations I observed have taught me that...