Learning Together

The purpose of the Learning Together series is to create intentional spaces in which our campus community can wrestle together with divergent, complex, and difficult narratives that address timely issues relevant to our campus and beyond. What we are doing in this series is practicing perspective-taking, which includes listening to, acknowledging, and seeking to understand worldviews and experiences different from one’s own.  Sessions are intended to invite multiple perspectives and narratives, to learn together about complex issues while also engaging in dialogue so that we can better understand our shared humanity. 

Events in the series will share the following approach:  

  • An experience of shared texts that can include speakers, films, artwork, podcasts, books, and articles with small-group discussion so that attendees interact with one another as learners. 
  • Registration is limited to the campus community and scaled appropriately, ensuring dialogue groups are small and led by a skilled facilitator. 

Fall 2024 Learning Together Events

Conflict at Home 

We heard from our campus that concerns about democracy and its capacity to address pressing issues is on community members’ minds. This two-part event series is designed to create space for dialogue and perspective-sharing on the challenges facing democracy today and the ways people are working together in the face of those challenges.  

Part 1: Conflict at Home: Challenges and Opportunities of American Democracy 

Monday, October 21, 2024 at 6 p.m. 

Our democracy is facing significant internal challenges: increasingly polarized party politics, disengaged and disenfranchised voters, and voter concerns over critical global issues. Addressing these challenges will require massive, systems-level change, but there are clear paths forward to revitalize and strengthen our democratic processes. This session will feature:

  • Henry L. Chambers (School of Law);
  • Dana El Kurd (Department of Political Science); and,
  • Ernest McGowen (Department of Political Science).

Key Perspectives 

Each speaker will address a specific challenge to democracy, offering their insight on the problem, a potential solution, and the barriers that stand in the way: 

  • How can we protect voting rights? 
  • How can we make our democracy more directly representative?  
  • How can we ensure critical global issues, such as war and human rights, are part of our national conversation?  

Part 2: Conflict at Home: Coalition Building in Changing Landscapes 

Even in the most divided times, coalitions are emerging among unlikely allies. How are people finding ways to work together across differences despite the challenges democracy faces today? 

Key Perspectives  

Each speaker will highlight specific examples of people working together to build coalitions and effect change, offering insights into what these efforts can teach us about renovating democracy on a broader scale: 

  • How are local organizers driving meaningful change through trust-building as a democratic practice?  
  •  How are grassroots movements, both locally and globally, building coalitions to promote understanding and cooperation in conflict zones, such as Israel-Palestine?