Productive Disagreement: A Toolkit for Contentious Times

Anticipating a contentious fall season, many collegiate honors programs want to offer students a toolkit for turning heated issues into healthy conversations and sustained relationships. But how do we ensure that we are engaging, not lecturing, our students?

Enter Moral Courage College, founded by HERU's 2024 keynote speaker, Irshad Manji. She has produced an Oscar^®-shortlisted documentary that provides a compelling case study in productive disagreement. By tackling a highly emotional issue from divergent perspectives in 30 minutes, the film leaves plenty of room for robust discussion and skills-building in real time.

With this in mind, Irshad is hosting a free one-hour webinar for NCHC members, during which she will preview her Oscar^®-shortlisted film Mississippi Turning and lead an interactive discussion.

Mississippi Turning features two young Mississippians who disagree profoundly about the truth of the Confederate Battle Flag. One of them, a hip-hop artist named Genesis, mounts a passionate protest against it. Realizing that confrontation changes little, she then tries something else: to understand where her “Other," a working-class guy named Louis, is coming from.

That is when the surprises begin. On their journey, both Genesis and Louis learn that you can stand your ground and create common ground at the same time -- a paradox that advances pluralism.

NCHC participants will learn about mentoring their students to develop the skills of collaborative problem-solving. You will also hear about opportunities to screen the full film as part of a high-touch, high-impact experience for your program or campus.

Facilitator:

Irshad Manji is the founder of Moral Courage College, which equips people worldwide to turn heated issues into healthy conversations and shared action.
The recipient of Oprah's "Chutzpah Award” for boldness, Irshad is also an internationally bestselling author. Her latest book is Don't Label Me: How to Do Diversity Without Inflaming the Culture Wars. (Fun fact: Chris Rock calls the book “genius.")

A professor of leadership at New York University for many years, Irshad now teaches with the Oxford Initiative for Global Ethics and Human Rights.

Questions? Contact the NCHC office at (402) 472-9150 or hello@nchchonors.org.