Why Schools Should Create More Opportunities for Disagreement | Mark Urista | TEDxCorvallis

Mark Urista, a Speech Communication faculty member at Linn-Benton Community College, argues that schools should create more opportunities for students to disagree constructively. He draws on his work leading the college's Civil Discourse Program, which uses structured dialogue and debate to explore polarizing issues. He contends that learning to disagree well is one of the most important and overlooked skills to teach the next generation. The talk also draws on his personal background, including growing up between a conservative father and a progressive mother, and his experience navigating differences since childhood. The session was given at an independently organized TEDx event.

• Learning to disagree well as a teachable skill
• Structured dialogue and debate at Linn-Benton Community College
• Building understanding rather than division
• Personal experience navigating differences across political views

Mark Urista is a Speech Communication faculty member at Linn-Benton Community College with more than 20 years of teaching experience. He leads LBCC’s Civil Discourse Program, which engages students and community members in conversations about polarizing issues. He also helped establish the college’s Cornerstone Program, where students read and discuss influential texts while sharing and challenging different interpretations. Mark has completed fellowships with UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center and the College Debates & Discourse Alliance. He has also developed and contributed curricular resources to national civil discourse efforts. Through initiatives including Vanderbilt University’s Dialogue CoLab, Mark has collaborated with faculty and administrators across the country. Mark serves on the steering committee for Braver Angels’ Mid-Willamette Valley Alliance and the Board of Trustees at Ashbrook Independent School. He holds an M.A. in Communication from the University of the Pacific and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from UC Berkeley. Mark Urista helps students and communities learn how to disagree in ways that build understanding rather than create division. At Linn-Benton Community College, he teaches Speech Communication and leads a Civil Discourse Program that uses structured dialogue and debate to explore complex, often polarizing issues. He has completed fellowships with UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center and the College Debates & Discourse Alliance, contributing to national efforts to strengthen constructive dialogue. He also serves on the steering committee for Braver Angels’ Mid-Willamette Valley Alliance. The son of a conservative father from a working-class family who served in the U.S. Army and a progressive mother from an upper-middle-class family who was a schoolteacher, Mark has navigated disagreement across differences since childhood. He believes that learning to disagree well is one of the most important and overlooked skills we can teach the next generation. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx