Diverse Perspectives Series: Event Four

Abstract: In this workshop Dr. Allred will engage with the audience on the foundations of civil discourse in the discussion of politically sensitive topics. He will relate the foundations of civil discourse to two movies that CMES screened in collaboration with the Center for Judaic Studies about the events in Israel and Palestine. These two movies presented diverse perspectives on the recent events in the Middle East. Additionally, this workshop will discuss possible cases/scenarios for discussion by grad students who teach on topics that relate directly or indirectly to politically sensitive topics.

Bio: Keith Allred is the Executive Director of the National Institute for Civil Discourse (NICD). His work to bridge the partisan divide has been featured in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, The Hill, and Congressional Quarterly. Keith was recruited to lead NICD because he had recently launched CommonSense American. Its over 75,000 members are three-for-three in championing in Congress solutions that attract bipartisan grassroots support. They played a meaningful role in passing legislation to end surprise medical billing in 2020, invest in America’s physical infrastructure in 2021, and update the Electoral Count Act in 2022.Prior to returning home to pilot the citizens’ group, Keith was the first professor of negotiation and conflict resolution at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He started his academic career as a professor at Columbia. Keith earned a PhD in Organizational Behavior from UCLA and BA in American History from Stanford.