Combatting polarization and charting a way forward with Peter T. Coleman
Air Dates: July 3-9, 2023
Political polarization is at epidemic levels in the United States鈥攕haping national politics, friendships, and even family dynamics. But Peter T. Coleman says it doesn鈥檛 have to be that way鈥攖hat each of us can adopt simple practices to reduce the polarization in our lives and in our communities.
Dr. Coleman is Professor of Psychology and Education at Columbia University where he holds a joint appointment at Teachers College and The Earth Institute. He directs the Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution, is founding director of the Institute for Psychological Science and Practice, and is co-executive director of Columbia University鈥檚 Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity. Coleman is also a renowned expert on constructive conflict resolution and sustainable peace. His current research focuses on conflict intelligence and systemic wisdom as meta-competencies for navigating conflict constructively at all levels and includes projects on adaptive negotiation and mediation dynamics, cross-cultural adaptivity, optimality dynamics in conflict, justice and polarization, multicultural conflict, intractable conflict, and sustainable peace. His latest book is book on breaking through the intractable polarization plaguing the U.S. and other societies across the globe is 鈥淭he Way Out: How to Overcome Toxic Polarization.鈥
On this episode of 鈥淪tory in the Public Square,鈥 Coleman discusses his work on political polarization and practical actions Americans can take to combat polarization.
鈥Story in the Public Square鈥 broadcasts each week on public television stations across the United States. In Rhode Island and southeastern New England, the show is broadcast on Rhode Island PBS on Sundays at 11:00 a.m. and is rebroadcast Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. An audio version of the program airs Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. ET, Sundays at 4:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m. 9:30 p.m. ET, and Monday 2:30 a.m. ET, on SiriusXM鈥檚 popular P.O.T.U.S. (Politics of the United States), channel 124. 鈥淪tory in the Public Square鈥 is a partnership between the Pell Center and The Providence Journal. The initiative aims to study, celebrate and tell stories that matter.