Mediaboss Marketing

Democracy relies on education for its legitimacy and its strength, Wahl said. In theory, its the reason our University was founded. While Jefferson is himself a highly contentious figure, our university has inherited the ideal that democracy depends on an educated citizenry.

Wahl said democracy is sustained by people who are willing and able to engage in meaningful dialogue with others, especially those with different opinions.

[Philosopher] John Dewey believed that democracy is a way of life, one that depends on people cultivating minds that are flexible, willing to experiment, and willing to entertain the ideas of others and respond dynamically, rather than rigidly, to other possibilities for how to live together, she said.

Wahl has studied political dialogue in many settings, but much of her work focuses on university campuses. Recently, she was tapped to be the faculty lead for the Education Schools collaborations with the Karsh Institute for Democracy.

Last school year, Emily LeGree was making final tweaks to her class schedule when she stumbled across the Political Dialogue course.

I thought it sounded interesting, because I am so frustrated with the way the U.S. government is right now and how polarized it is, the third-year youth and social innovation student said. So I wanted to take a class where we can learn more about that and how to bridge the divide a little bit.

In the course, students study the theory of political deliberation and dialogue. Then, they practice having in-depth discussions about current events with their classmates.

Wahl begins the course by helping students create their own discussion guidelines, to establish a foundation of trust. Each week, they gather in a circle and dive into current events last fall, the nine students in the class spent a lot of time on COVID vaccine mandates. Wahl is there to guide the conversation, but she always lets students take the lead.

I was scared at first, but I loved it, said Carolyn Carbaugh, who also took the class last fall. Dr. Wahl was able to effectively create an atmosphere built on open communication and intellectual exploration. There was a sense of security that came with our group members respect for one another.

A theme of Wahls work is that politics is inseparable from other dimensions of human experience. She said that trying to separate a persons emotions and experiences from their political views is futile. Ultimately, all politics are personal.

In discussions, students do more than argue about whether specific policies are right or wrong. They share personal stories and explore deeper topics about their hopes for society.

LeGree said the course was challenging, and at times, frustrating and emotional. Theyre hard conversations, and it gets heavy, she said. It was almost like a group therapy session. Dr. Wahl would help us make sense of the difficulties we were having in a conversation from a theoretical perspective and help us understand why all of us see things differently. She was able to connect the pieces for us in a broader way.

Wahl is not nave. She doesnt believe all the worlds problems can be solved by just talking it out. It can cause harm and not everyone is prepared to have a healthy dialogue. But she believes talking serves an important purpose.

Its very, very rare for anybody to change their mind about political issues. But they do frequently change their mind about the people on the other side, Wahl said. I think what they see is that theres actually a whole range of beliefs and aspirations that are recognizably good.

Carbaugh said one of her biggest takeaways from the course was that there is value in a political discussion where the only agenda is to listen. I learned that not every political discussion needs to be an argument, she said. It helped me surrender this idea that I need to change people and that all political discussions are a zero-sum game.

The goal is to create more opportunities for students to engage with politics in healthy ways.

For LeGree, the course sparked a friendship that she might not have otherwise found.

Its funny, because [my closest friend from the class is] the one I disagreed with the most politically, she said. We would butt heads the most in class, and we are such different people. But its good because it broadens my view on things.

Were both people who know what we believe in. Im very passionate about what I believe, but its not fair for me to be so strong in my views that I dont listen to anyone else. I think hes found that, too.

Read more from the original source:
For Democracy, Talking Is More Important Than Agreeing - UVA Today