Political polarization has become a threat to our democracy and to our universities.

To address this, we host a monthly series of online dialogues on Zoom, aimed at creating meeting spaces for members of campus communities (students, staff, faculty, administrators, alumni) who are interested in building bridges across political, social, and other types of differences. We follow Chatham House Rules, and other best practices for encouraging free and respectful exchanges of ideas.

We are currently focused on the mountain west region. We started at the University of Colorado Boulder in 2020. In 2023, we added participants from four other Colorado Universities: Colorado State University, University of Colorado Denver, University of Denver, and Colorado Mesa University. This year (2024), the University of Wyoming, Boise State University, and University of Utah will join us, and we hope to add other schools in the mountain west as well. Over the years, we have had participation from undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, staff, faculty, senior administrators (e.g., vice chancellors), and alumni of all ages.

This academic year (2024-2025), our dialogs will take place on the second-last Friday of each month (Sept. 20, Oct. 18, Nov. 22, Dec, 20, Jan. 24, Feb. 21, Mar. 21, Apr. 18, May 23), from noon-1pm MT. You may attend as many or as few of these dialogues as you wish. Each one is meant to be self-contained, but repeat participation is encouraged!

Our dialogues start with discussion prompts and sometimes background articles (sent around beforehand). We start in one big Zoom room and split off into breakout rooms depending on the size of the group. Topics either focus on an issue being discussed publicly, or an issue motivated by the science of how to reduce inter-group conflict. For example, we always start the year by discussing: "Where do your perspectives come from?” The idea is to share how our upbringings and experiences have influenced our views, in order to build a foundation of understanding and empathy. For more information on previous editions of our series, see here.

We are grateful for collaboration and co-sponsorship from: the Presidential Fellows program at the University of Wyoming; the Heterodox Academy (HxA) Campus Communities program and its chapters at University of Colorado Boulder, University of Denver, Colorado Mesa University, Boise State University, University of Utah, and University of Wyoming; the Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization, the Office for Public and Community Engaged Scholarship, and the Faculty Fellows for Higher Education and Democracy program at the University of Colorado Boulder; the Center for Public Deliberation at Colorado State University; and the Civic Forum at Colorado Mesa University.

Questions? Don't hesitate to reach out to:
Matt Burgess (matt.burgess@uwyo.edu), University of Wyoming, series lead, Assistant Professor of Economics, and Presidential Fellow for free expression and constructive dialogue

Taylor Jaworski (taylor.jaworski@colorado.edu), University of Colorado Boulder, Associate Professor of Economics, and Associate Faculty Director, Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization