It’s become an all too familiar story: a conservative firebrand is invited to speak at a college campus known for embracing free speech and contrasting views, a place like UC-Berkeley or NYU. Then, the campus erupts in protests. It some cases, it ends up being more like a fight than an exchange of ideas. Sometimes the protests turn violent or events are canceled altogether. Enter Respect & Rebellion — a new project to help students and the rest of us figure out how to disagree better. They’re testing out their methods on college campuses … and organizers say it starts with relationships.
CHALLENGE:
Find someone who you disagree with about a specific topic — it could be something big like politics or small like which way the toilet paper roll should go. Your challenge is to interview that person about their views. But here’s the catch - you are only allowed to ask questions for understanding. Your mission is to get to the bottom of why they believe what they believe.
Report back by sending a voice memo or email to strangers@kuer.org.
