Civil discourse brought students and faculty together on Nov. 1 to discuss the future of the United States.
Bring It To The Table, an interactive event about civil discourse, was held in Tuttle Dining Room. A documentary, “Bring It To The Table,” and a follow-up discussion were held for the attendants.
Jessica Lynn, executive director of SC Campus Compact, introduced the documentary by defining civil discourse and how people can discuss issues without arguing about their opposing beliefs.
“Civil discourse is conversation not for the sake of talking, but conversation for the sake of listening and understanding,” Lynn said.
She also said that it is important for people to remember that you aren’t supposed to feel comfortable and reach an agreement by the end of the conversation, but that you should be learning and growing with each other.
“My encouragement to you is to go out and have conversations and not conversations where you are sitting down to talk, but conversations where you are sitting down to listen and to learn and to make you feel a little uncomfortable and push yourselves to be a little stronger in your beliefs,” Lynn said.
The documentary “Bring it to the Table” is the story of Julie Winokur’s journey to become more tolerant as she learns to listen rather than just talk at people she disagreed with.
Winokur, a devout democrat, was told by her son that she was the most intolerant person that he knew. In response to this, Winokur said that she wanted to change.
She traveled the country and set up a table. She asked people of varying political beliefs, religions, backgrounds to sit at the table and answer questions about politics.
On the table, Winokur placed a yellow flower. She asked her tablemate to place it on the left or right of the table, according to how they felt they leaned politically. This allowed her to visualize where they stood and have an open conversation with them.
Winokur said that this helped her develop an understanding and become more tolerant of those with opposing political ideologies.
After the showing of “Bring It To The Table,” participants split off into pairs and have their own versions of Winokur’s ‘table talks.’
A wide variety of issues were available for discussion such as gun control, marijuana legalization and banning plastic products. Participants were told to find someone who opposed their political beliefs.
Christine Dunn, a freshman biomedical research and business major, said that having those uncomfortable conversations are necessary in order to make change.
“I think if we want to make things better, we have to start looking at other people’s point of views because it’s very easy to look at your own personal experiences and not somebody else’s. I think that everybody comes from different backgrounds in their lives and it really does affect where people are going to go in their life,” Dunn said.
