On an evening in late October, hundreds of students, faculty and staff gathered in the Goldstein Auditorium for an event aimed at nurturing bipartisan, civil dialogue—an underpinning of democracy.

The inaugural “Life Together” event was coordinated by Tina Nabatchi, Joseph A. Strasser Endowed Professor in Public Administration and director of the Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration (PARCC); Gretchen Ritter, vice president for civic engagement and education and professor of political science; and Margaret Talev, Kramer Director of the Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship and professor of practice in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Attendees were seated around 20 tables and encouraged to share perspectives about a thorny topic—the economy—with the help of facilitators who received training from PARCC’s Conflict Management Center.

“Although participants had different political and policy perspectives and expressed real differences about how to promote economic opportunity and prosperity, people listened and learned from one another,” said Nabatchi. “That’s a win.”

Participants also heard from Lance Trover, former spokesman for North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum’s presidential campaign, and Meghan Hays, former Biden communications advisor. While political rivals, they shared how they became friends and respect one another.

Plans are underway for additional “Life Together” events. Nabatchi hopes they create ripples that flow beyond campus. “At PARCC we do a lot of training and practice-oriented work that helps people think about approaching conflict more constructively and creatively,” she said. “We teach people how to analyze situations and engage productively. We’re committed to giving people skills so they can have better conversations in classrooms, at family dinner tables and at community meetings.”

By Jessica Youngman