DIALOGUES Disrupting Polarization
On Wednesday, June 20th , 2018, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) held the eight event of its monthly series, DIALOGUES. The event took place in collaboration with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Agora Institute at the Johns Hopkins University and is entitled: “Disrupting Polarization: The Work of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University."
The workshop examined how ideological division and partisanship are pulling at the fabric of democracy around the world. Last summer, SNF and Johns Hopkins announced the joint conception of this new $150 million interdisciplinary institute, established to explore ways to reinvigorate civic engagement and civil discourse – the bulwarks of healthy democracy – in the 21st century. The workshop, “Disrupting Polarization” introduced the type of work the Institute will be undertaking – from exploring the decline of modern dialogue and decision-making, to sharing lessons learned on promoting open discussion to proposing innovative reforms to reverse the corrosive deterioration of norms.
