Respectful Disagreement is currently undertaking a number of research projects which will soon be made available.
If you are interested in knowing more, please email us at:
j.arvanitakis (at) westernsydney.edu.au
Coming soon: Respectful Disagreement: The challenge and how we should respond?
The current research involves interviewing business, community, education, and political leaders, as well as journalists, comedians, and those who have been ‘canceled’ to create a suite of tools for organizations to create a culture that promotes respectful disagreement.
Publications
Article: Looking for dialogue not divisions in the ‘trans debate’
Published 27 April 2022: available here…
The complex topic of trans athletes in sports has become highly politicized during the 2022 federal election. It is an issue that raises a number of important questions. The challenge is, however, how can we have such a conversation respectfully and with nuance, while not further marginalizing this vulnerable community? How do we raise concerns – valid or otherwise – without accusations of ‘transphobia’, ‘wokeness’, or other terms that are bandied about far too easily.
Is this even possible? In this article for Neo Kosmos, I argue that we can use such debates to find common ground if we are prepared to listen – even to those we disagree with – rather than hurl insults.
Article: The need for brave spaces: The need for respectful disagreement
Published 22 October 2020: available here…
This article asks how we can prepare our students to succeed in a world beset by partisanship, hostility to intellectualism and universities, and an uncertain employment landscape. One ‘soft skill’ required is the ‘ability to talk to those you cannot agree with.’ This requires us to build ‘brave spaces’ that encourage our students to be exposed to the educational power of discomfort.
While I provide strategies for creating brave spaces, I also present a provocation to my fellow educators: we are at least partly responsibile for the lost art of respectful disagreement.