Managing political tensions

de Alexander C. Kafka

"The deadly events at Charlottesville in 2017 served as a warning to campus leaders: Colleges can't hide from societal tensions. They must acknowledge and work to resolve them, while building a campus culture that is both empathetic and alert to perils. This Chronicle issue brief will help leaders understand the roots of rising political polarization, anti-intellectualism, and hate speech, among other tensions. And it will provide them with tools to educate their communities and thwart, or at least de-escalate, threats to their campuses. [Read] this issue brief and learn: Why political polarization and hostility toward higher education have grown in recent years -- How to monitor and de-escalate potential threats, based on advice from educators, anti-terrorism experts, risk-management experts, hate-group watchdogs, and law-enforcement officials -- Why colleges should promote civic, media, and racial literacy, while giving students cognitive tools that will allow them to counter manipulation and identify constructive civic goals -- How to find the right balance between shielding communities from hate groups and educating them about such threats."-- The Chronicle Store