About:

Transforming High Conflict with Ann Crews Melton

• This is a 3-meeting virtual class using the Zoom platform
• Thursdays, March 6, 20, April 3 
• 2-3pm CT
• Our classes are taught asynchronously, which means you can watch a recording of the class later if you miss the live session

How do we break down the us vs. them binary, once a seemingly intractable conflict takes over? Can we step outside of our own beliefs, loyalties, and biases to revive curiosity and reevaluate our rivals? In this three-part class utilizing Amanda Ripley's High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out, learn how to short-circuit high conflict and move toward constructive conversations that seek common ground, and the common good.

INSTRUCTOR BIO

Ann Crews Melton is executive director of Consensus Council, a Bismarck-based nonprofit, and previously served as an editor at the State Historical Society of ND and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in religion from Austin College and a master of arts degree in publishing and writing from Emerson College. She is an avid obituary reader and former reporter and community columnist for the Bismarck Tribune. Ann is an Aspen Institute Better Arguments Ambassador, former board officer of Humanities North Dakota, and a strong proponent of civic engagement, restorative practices, and participatory decision-making.

HND VALUE STATEMENT

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program, do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities or Humanities North Dakota. However, in an increasingly polarized world, we at Humanities North Dakota believe that being open-minded is necessary to thinking critically and rationally. Therefore, our programs and classes reflect our own open-mindedness in the inquiry, seeking, and acquiring of scholars to speak at our events and teach classes for our Public University. To that end, we encourage our participants to join us in stepping outside our comfort zones and considering other perspectives and ideas by being open-minded while attending HND events featuring scholars who hold a variety of opinions, some being opposite of our own held beliefs.

Humanities North Dakota classes and events are funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities