跨越差异谈话

“这项工作需要极大的勇气. 幸运的是，我们这里有.”
——马克·尤里斯塔

在今天这个分裂的国家, is it really possible for people who identify as “red” and “blue” to talk across 他们的分歧并找到共同点?

博天堂官方 students think so, and recently the Heterodox Academy, a national organization that studies 视图point diversity in higher education, agreed. Linn-Benton社区 College is the first community college in the country to receive the “Open Inquiry Award” for its student-led Civil Discourse Club – a club that has shown outstanding leadership in facilitating pathways for people in our community to work together despite 完全不同的意识形态视角.

“This award recognizes what is possible when a campus community works together to create an environment that supports free expression, 视图point diversity, and civil 话语. Our college and club’s student leaders are modeling what we need to see more of in the United States,” said Mark Urista, 博天堂官方 Civil Discourse Club advisor.

Students Brandon Calhoun and Anthony Lusardi accepted the award for the college at Heterodox’s annual convention on June 20 in New York City, where they also served 作为小组发言人. As a highly-respected non-partisan advocate of constructive disagreement, the Heterodox Academy conference also attracted media personalities, administrators and professors across the country, and other student leaders.

点燃火花
As a member of the Communication faculty, Urista watched the Civil Discourse Club emerge from a debate in his classroom over sexually explicit artwork on display in a busy hallway in North Santiam Hall, which also happens to be part of a campus art 画廊. Some people found the art offensive and wanted it removed, while others found it expressive and were okay with it being uncensored and displayed.

The debate drew students, faculty and leadership from across the college campus, and students saw it as an opportunity to practice the Civil Discourse skills they were 课堂学习. The club was born as one team of students spoke in favor of the 艺术，另一个反对. Both teams were instructed on how to use constructive, informative and engaging dialogue that allowed people on both sides of the issue to be heard – a key component of the Heterodox Academy’s mission.

“At the time, our campus community was highly polarized with little to no engagement with those of differing perspectives on the artwork,” said Calhoun. 一小群人 of students decided to get together to hold a debate that did not aim on producing a winner or loser, but instead our goal was to accurately portray different perspectives from those that were being produced in echo chambers on our campus, for the purpose 学习的.”

Since then, the Civil Discourse Club has made a concerted effort to create open and respectful environments that enhance understanding among individuals with diverse 视图points; part of the club’s mission.

This past year, the club hosted two major speaking events that were free and open to the public: TED Talk speakers, Red Mom and Blue Mom; and John and Ciaran from the Better Angels组织. Both events focused on how to share differing 视图points in a meaningful and respectful way - without trying to change the other’s point of 视图.

他们的勇气得到认可
As a testament to their work, the 博天堂官方 Civil Discourse Club was recently awarded full-chapter status as part of Bridge USA, the first (and so-far exclusive) community college branch 组织的. Similar to Heterodox, Bridge USA works with future leaders on college campuses to foster spaces where a diverse range of ideas can be heard.

In addition, 博天堂官方 was the only community college featured in a recent Reason magazine article written by Jonathan Haidt and Debra Mashek. 标题为“10所大学，你 Won’t Have to Walk on Eggshells,” the article highlights schools that are committed to civil and diverse debate, and included universities such as Arizona State, Chapman, University of Chicago, Kansas State, and Purdue,

In its award letter to 博天堂官方, Heterodox Academy noted: The levels of commitment, ambition, and innovation demonstrated by the 林本顿社区学院 Civil Discourse Club are truly extraordinary — and a model for students and faculty at other colleges and 全国各大高校.

社区大学的优势
Heterodox has gathered data that reflects how community colleges are unique among 大学和私立学院. That data shows that community colleges tend to have more diversity when it comes to socio-economic standing, political points of 观点，人口统计和生活经历.

“Because of our unique situation – that being a red county, blue county community college – we didn’t really have much choice but to figure out how to have these two worlds interact with one another and to provide space where everybody feels included,” 说Urista. “I think the work the college has done around free expression is a testament 致学院领导. 这项工作需要极大的勇气. 幸运的是, 这里有.”