Journal of College and Character

Getting Unstuck From the Polarization Quagmire

In her book, Leadership Can Be Taught: A Bold Approach for a Complex World, Sharon Parks writes about what she calls swamp issues, defined as “tangled, complex problems composed of multiple systems that resist technical analysis.” Polarization is one of the biggest swamp issues of our time, as it stands in the way of a core principle of contemporary higher education: the free and open exchange of ideas.  As a journal focused on questions of character, NASPA’s Journal of College and Character seeks to provide readers with knowledge regarding how to think about polarization and develop strategies to address it.

Authors may address one or more of these questions or raise their own questions in their proposal:

1. What are the driving forces of polarization? Economic disparity, social injustice, climate disasters, forced migration, and/or something else? What role should higher education play in these divided times?
2. Do you have a story about “crossing the aisle” and intentionally immersing yourself in some aspect of “the other side”? What did you learn and what can our readers learn from this experience?
3. Do you have examples or case studies from your campus that exemplify useful practices for addressing polarization?
4. How do you define ideological diversity, and what does it look like in practice for individuals and organizations? Is ideological diversity intrinsically positive or necessary?
5. How do you and/or your students experience polarization? How does polarization manifest on your campus?
6. Are there times that polarization cannot be avoided and, if so, what are these times and how do you make that determination?
7. Is civility an antidote to polarization? What are the benefits and drawbacks for encouraging civility?
8. How can we effectively foster civility in a way that goes beyond surface-level interactions/discussions?
9. How do you navigate standing firm in your values and trying to relate across ideological differences? How do you teach this skill to students?
10. Are there generational (and/or other identity-related) aspects of polarization and, if so, what are they and how do you negotiate them?
11. What scholarship informs your thinking about polarization? How might readers benefit from exposure to this scholarship?
12. How have new communication technologies fed into polarization? What can we do to address technology-enabled polarization? Are hate and polarization online merely a reflection of hate and polarization offline?