The University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and Chicago Public Media are partnering on a new initiative, which will bring together 40 civic-minded Chicagoans of different backgrounds, perspectives and experiences to explore some of the most consequential issues facing the city. Called Chicago in Conversation: People, Policy, and the City We Share, the program also will explore what it takes to have productive conversations across those differences.
The program’s participants will begin by taking part in civil discourse training led by Leila Brammer, the director of curriculum at UChicago’s Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression. Then they will join a series of intimate, facilitated conversations guided by Harris Public Policy faculty members and Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ journalists, to learn more about and discuss some of the most complex public policy questions confronting Chicago.
The aim is not to persuade participants to agree with one another. It is to create a space in which Chicagoans can engage seriously with difficult questions, encounter perspectives different from their own, and develop the skills and relationships needed to carry those respectful conversations into their own communities in ways that inspire change.
“Chicago in Conversation was born of the notion that in a healthy civil society we need to be able to engage constructively with perspectives and information that challenge our own ways of thinking, especially about our most deeply held views,” said Ethan Bueno de Mesquita, the Sydney Stein Professor and dean of the Harris School of Public Policy. “The University of Chicago has long believed in the value of open inquiry and respectful conversation across differences. This initiative gives us an opportunity to put those principles into practice directly with Chicagoans.”
The partnership brings together two institutions with a shared commitment to the civic life of Chicago. Harris contributes deep expertise in policy research and UChicago’s tradition of open inquiry, while Chicago Public Media brings storytelling and longstanding connection to the issues that matter most to Chicagoans.
The initiative comes at a moment when Chicagoans recognize the depth of the nation’s current political division, but remain considerably more hopeful about their ability to work through it close to home. A new poll supported by Harris and Chicago Public Media, relying on NORC’s ChicagoSpeaks Panel, finds that 80% of Chicago residents describe the United States as extremely or very politically divided. Forty percent say the same of Illinois, while just 27% describe Chicago that way.
More importantly, 60% of Chicagoans are optimistic that people with different political views can still come together and work out their differences in Chicago. The poll also suggests that political conversations matter even when they do not change minds: 74% of Chicagoans say they have learned new information through a political conversation, while 71% say they have taught someone else something new.
Those findings point to both the challenge and the opportunity that Chicago in Conversation is designed to explore.
“Every day, journalism helps people make sense of complex issues,” said Ariel Van Cleave, managing director of audio at Chicago Public Media. “But understanding a city also requires creating opportunities for people to listen to one another. Chicago in Conversation is built on the belief that curiosity, thoughtful reporting, and respectful dialogue can deepen public understanding, even when people leave the room with different conclusions.”
Topics the program participants will be asked to wrestle with include Chicago's fiscal future; economic inequality; and local government, democracy and representation. Each conversation will bring data and policy expertise that help clarify trade-offs, paired with the experiences and perspectives participants bring from their own communities.
Participants in the initial cohort will be encouraged to carry the tools, relationships, and habits of constructive dialogue into their workplaces, neighborhoods, organizations and personal networks, creating opportunities for thoughtful exchange well beyond the program.
—This article originally appeared on the Harris School website.
