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—shaping national politics, friendships, and even family dynamics.  But Peter T. Coleman says it doesn’t have to be that way—that 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’s 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 “The Way Out: How to Overcome Toxic Polarization.”

On this episode of “Story in the Public Square,” Coleman discusses his work on political polarization and practical actions Americans can take to combat polarization.

“Story in the Public Square” broadcasts each week on public television stations across the United States. A full listing of the national television distribution is available at this link. 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’s popular P.O.T.U.S. (Politics of the United States), channel 124. “Story in the Public Square” is a partnership between the Pell Center and The Providence Journal. The initiative aims to study, celebrate and tell stories that matter.