New symposium to highlight need for civil discourse
Texas A&M University-Victoria is joining a select group of universities in The Texas A&M University System to host a weeklong series on Civil Discourse to teach students how to disagree and collaborate in an increasingly divisive world.
“The ability to have a civil conversation is an important life skill,” said Jay Lambert, vice president for student affairs. “It’s essential that students have the ability to get their point across and listen while also respecting the difference of opinion of others. This series is focused on helping students develop those tools.”
The series will be from April 6 to 10 with one speaker or panel each day. Each event will focus on an element of civil discourse or a situation where civil discourse is essential to promote respectful dialogue in today’s society. While the central focus of the events is to educate and encourage students, the events are free and open to the public.
The series was created as part of a system-wide initiative from Chancellor Glenn Hegar, who knows the importance of civil discourse because of his experience in state politics and now as the leader of one of the largest public university systems in Texas.
“This is about more than conversation,” Hegar said in an announcement from The Texas A&M System. “It’s about helping students understand what they believe, listen to others and lead with integrity. At the Texas A&M System, students are our mission and preparing them for lives of leadership and service is what we’re here to do.”
The series will begin Monday at 11 a.m. in Walker Auditorium with a keynote conversation with State Representative AJ Louderback, who will speak about the importance of using civil discourse in leadership. He will share his experience as a public servant both at the state and the local level and share how the ability to communicate despite differences can results in positive decision-making.
Tuesday’s session will be at 9:30 a.m. in Walker Auditorium, and the focus will be Civil Discourse and Interfaith Dialogue. A panel of interfaith leaders from the Victoria community will share the importance of meaningful dialogue across religious traditions and show how it can strengthen relationships, reduce division and promote respectful engagement in the community.
Wednesday will feature a Free Expression and Respectful Dialogue at 2:30 p.m. inside Walker Auditorium. This event will feature a panel of faculty members who will discuss freedom of expression and how to have a respectful dialogue in an era of culture-war rhetoric. Students will also be able to learn about the challenges of intercultural communication and the responsibilities that accompany academic freedom. Panelists will also talk about how polarization has shaped public debate and the value of intellectual humility.
On Thursday at 11 a.m. in the University Commons Multi-Purpose Room, students are invited to a structured public conversation on Immigration in America: How do we fix a broken system? This session will allow students to have small-group conversations that will allow students to practice civil discourse about one of the most current and relevant controversies of today. This session is presented in partnership with the Center for Peace Victoria, a local nonprofit that focuses on facilitating dialogue to address conflict, justice and cultural complexities.
The week will wrap up Friday at 10 a.m.in Walker Auditorium with a session titled Practicing Civil Discourse. Faculty, students and campus leaders will be invited to participate in moderated conversations addressing real issues that impact the region and the community. The goal of the event is to demonstrate how skills such as respectful listening, intellectual humility and principled disagreement can create a safe environment for civil discourse. It also is a reminder that these skills should be practiced daily.
One essential element of civil discourse and what students should take away from this series is that these skills are essential for daily life and in-person interaction, said Woodrow Wagner, director of institutional strategies. While social media tends to treat communication and controversial subjects as a zero-sum game with more focus on labels and memes than complex conversations, actual discourse takes effort and the ability to respect others who disagree.
“If we only have conversations in the artificial reality of social media, then we may move further from civility,” Wagner said. “Facebook algorithms prey on our fears and lure us away from sound argumentation, which is dependent on data and warrants to make viable claims. Civil discourse promotes authentic empathy, compassion, and understanding, which are needed if our students are going to break the tribal biases that divide our society.”
For more information about the Civil Discourse series, go to https://www.tamuv.edu/civil-discourse/.
Texas A&M University-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 50 academic programs in the colleges of Business, Education & Health Professions, Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, and Natural & Applied Science. A&M-Victoria provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as online classes that students can take from anywhere. The university supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.