Our nation is suffering from a crisis of connection. The U.S. surgeon general warns of an epidemic of loneliness. Our politics have become polarized. The norms of free and respectful speech are challenged on our campuses. And social trust in each other and institutions is near an all-time low.
Yet, we can weave together our communities and our nation.
"How to Heal a Divided America" will begin in Nashville, Tennessee, on Sept. 12 and culminate on Sept. 19-20, 2024, with a joint event with the Aspen Institute's Weave: The Social Fabric Project and Dialogue Vanderbilt.
"How to Heal a Divided America" will be a community-building exercise focused on knitting together diverse perspectives and lived experiences to better approach, analyze and address the societal problems of polarization and isolation facing our communities and the world.
On Thursday, Sept. 12, at 6 p.m. CT, the event begins with a screening of Join or Die, which explores America's civic decline over the last 50 years. Featuring interviews with Hillary Clinton, Pete Buttigieg, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and others, the film explores key questions: What makes democracy work? Why is it in crisis? And what can we do to fix it?
Next, we will begin our two-day conversation on Thursday, Sept. 19, at 5:30 p.m. CT in Langford Auditorium with a dialogue between world-renowned political scientist, bestselling author and Harvard Kennedy School professor Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone and The Upswing, and Frederick Riley, the executive director of Weave. Together we will explore why the power of community has been declining for more than 50 years and how we as individuals and as a nation can come together starting where we live and work.
The conversation will continue on Friday, Sept. 20, at 10:30 a.m. CT in the John Seigenthaler Center with three sessions featuring Weave's framework and expertise and Vanderbilt Professor of English Dana Nelson, Vanderbilt research professor and founder/president of Millions of Conversations Samar Ali, and select students from across campus who excel in the art of weaving. These breakout sessions and intimate conversations among students, faculty, staff and members of the Nashville community will be sure to illuminate and engage. We expect to dive into topics ranging from weaving connections in your community to building a world of connection and much more.
