January 22, 2025

Dialogue, disagreement and democracy course highlights reel

In a time when the divide between differing viewpoints can seem insurmountable, the University of Washington’s LEAD 298 course, 2024: Dialogue, Disagreement and Democracy, offered undergraduates the opportunity to engage thoughtfully with contentious topics and learn how to navigate information, forge relationships and have productive conversations. Students addressed the pressing challenges of our polarized world, exploring reasoned dialogue amid disagreement while reinforcing the importance of democracy and community.

In this course, Professor Ed Taylor, vice provost and dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs, held powerful conversations with scholars, community leaders and people with opposing views. Topics included misinformation and disinformation, the nature of democracy and the idea of belonging. Students were encouraged to witness and reflect on conflict within the community, listen, understand and find common ground. Below is a video with highlights from the different conversations.

The course was designed to help students cultivate skills applicable to real-world situations, from family gatherings to campus communities, online discussions to professional settings. One of the core features of the class was the opportunity for students to witness conflict firsthand — learning how disagreements unfold and also how to manage them constructively. As part of the course, students participated in weekly online and asynchronous lessons encouraging reflection and critical analysis. These resources provided the intellectual framework to better understand the complexities of current events and the social dynamics surrounding them.

2024: Dialogue, Disagreement and Democracy was organized by Undergraduate Academic Affairs with video production by the UW Continuum College and support from the Provost’s Office.