This 40-minute online course is designed to foster skills to help you lessen the effects of polarization when you encounter them in your political conversations.

Note that by "polarization," we are not referring to healthy disagreements over issues or philosophy. We are talking about how we regard and talk about large groups of ordinary people on the other side of the political aisle.

Take this workshop if you are interested in learning how to be critical without stereotyping, dismissing, ridiculing, or showing contempt and building skills for intervening in a constructive way in social conversations that veer into contempt and ridicule for people who hold other political views.

This course will teach you how to communicate better with people who differ from you politically. There are two course options, one for "reds" and one for "blues." By "red," we mean someone who leans conservative or tends to vote for Republicans. By "blue," we mean someone who leans liberal or tends to vote for Democrats. You are also welcome to take both courses if you like. The skills are the same but the examples are different. If you are an “other” who does not lead red or blue, please choose a side for the sake of practice. 

The goals of this course are:

1. A deeper understanding of why family differences over politics are uniquely challenging.

2. Insight into the common roles that family members play when political conversations go badly.

3. Strategies and skills for dealing with family political differences in a constructive way.

Check out Braver Angels' full catalog of professional level courses, crafted by experts in communications and depolarization. They provide an effective and “safe” way to interact with people in difficult situations. 

Each online course takes approximately 40 minutes to complete. 

Interested in additional Braver Angels online and offline events? Check out the National Events calendar.