An Evening of Discussion with Dr. Peter Coleman and Dr. Averell Manes

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The Mark Twain Library and the Redding League of Women Voters are proud to present the fifth installment of our series “Conversations: Truth, Myth & Democracy.” In this program, two experts on conflict resolution will be in a virtual discussion to offer insights into how deeply divided societies can, and in fact do, change. Dr. Peter Coleman is a Professor of Psychology and Education at Columbia University who studies polarizing, intractable conflict and sustainable peace and has recently published a book, The Way Out: How to Overcome Toxic Polarization which addresses this exact topic. Dr. R. Averell Manes is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies at Western Connecticut State University (WCSU).

Later this month we offer another Conversations program that complements this one as we will be analyzing three different works by noted scholars to better understand and address civic turmoil and political upheaval. One of those works is a TED Talk by Dr. Coleman. That virtual program is scheduled for March 22 @ 7:30pm, click HERE to register.

The Conversations series is a grassroots effort that continues to examine the underlying meaning of our democracy and how democracy matters even when we have different ideas about what it should look like. The focus is on addressing the difficult issues of truth telling and myth busting by bringing much-needed community conversations to help promote education, informed dialogue and civil discourse. The series is brought to you in association with Easton Public Library, Newtown’s C.H. Booth Library, Ridgefield Library, Weston Public Library, The League of Women Voters of Ridgefield, The League of Women Voters of Weston, and the League of Women Voters of Northern Fairfield County.

About our presenters:
Dr. Peter T. Coleman is Professor of Psychology and Education at Columbia University where he holds a joint-appointment at Teachers College and The Earth Institute. Dr. Coleman directs the Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution (MD-ICCCR), is founding director of the Institute for Psychological Science and Practice (IPSP), and is executive director of Columbia University’s Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity (AC 4).

Dr. Coleman is a renowned expert on constructive conflict resolution and sustainable peace. His current research focuses on conflict intelligence and systemic wisdom as meta-competencies for navigating conflict constructively across all levels (from families to companies to communities to nations), and includes projects on adaptive negotiation and mediation dynamics, cross-cultural adaptivity, optimality dynamics in conflict, justice and polarization, multicultural conflict, intractable conflict, and sustainable peace. He has received numerous awards and accolades for his work.

Dr. R. Averell Manes is an Emeritus and adjunct Professor of Political Science and Conflict Studies for the Department of Social Sciences, at Western Connecticut State University (WCSU) and Faculty Affiliate and Adjunct Professor for the Program on the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration (PARCC) at Syracuse University (SU). She graduated with a BA, in international relations and Middle East Studies from McGill University, in Montreal, Canada, and earned her PhD in political science/comparative politics and conflict resolution from the Maxwell School of
Citizenship and Public Affairs at SU.