Name
Narrowing the Perception Gap: Increase Civil Discourse Motivation and Counteract Illiberalism
Date & Time
Wednesday, April 2, 2025, 10:30 AM - 11:15 AM
Location Name
International 5
Focus Area
Bridge building, dialogue, and discourse to support an engaged democracy
Session Type
Knowledge-to-Action Workshop
Description

Many colleges and universities are encouraging cross-partisan civil discourse efforts on campus, while pushing against forces of illiberalism. The goals are excellent, but efforts can fail to motivate students to engage, or address an overblown sense of threat that can underlie illiberal tendencies. More Like US narrows the Perception Gap, the finding that Americans are more similar – and less threatening – to each other than often believed across the political spectrum. This increases conversation motivation and right-sizes threat perceptions. More Like US will present its offerings for colleges: a presentation / lesson plan, Similarity Hub data aggregation tool, and training for content creators. We will collaboratively discuss ways to integrate them on campus, and for interactions in nearby communities.