Curious, Compassionate Conversation

Environmental and social problems are exacerbated by recent culture wars in the U.S. As social psychologists show, values about climate change, for example, have more to do with identification with our “tribes” than with logic or reason. And the affective mode of public discourse is outrage. In service of repairing democracy and finding common ground around environmental issues, this assignment asks students to be more “in relation” than “right” by practicing compassionate conversation.