Fox Cities News

The University of Wisconsin (UW) is expanding a new dialogue series aimed at students, called Bridging the Divide, across its campuses. The initiative seeks to promote discussions on contentious societal issues such as abortion, climate change, affirmative action, and immigration. The program encourages students to engage in conversation without fear of judgment or attack.

First developed as a pilot project last spring at the UW campuses in Oshkosh, Eau Claire, Green Bay, and Parkside, Bridging the Divide has now expanded to all 13 of the university's four-year campuses. The meetings are held monthly, with different topics addressed each time, and are facilitated by students themselves.

Mike Lueder, UW-Oshkosh’s outreach affiliate for the Thompson Center and director of its Center for Civic and Community Engagement, is one of the leading figures behind the project. Lueder summed up the series' core mission with the slogan: “replacing snark with conversation, tweets with talk, and scrolls and likes with face-to-face dialogue.”

The dialogue series aims to create a supportive environment for students to discuss challenging issues without feeling judged or attacked. According to the university's description: "Students [are] talking to each other about challenging issues in a space where they won’t feel judged or attacked."

The series is part of a broader initiative by the UW system to foster healthy and productive discussion among students holding different viewpoints.