Moral Foundations Theory provides a framework for exploring moral decision making in a civil and respectful way. In this workshop we apply this framework to talking politics.
 We begin by discussing each of the six foundations and getting a taste of how they can manifest differently in different people. This leads to exploring some of the tensions intrinsic within the foundations themselves, which opens the door to moving from the moral/immoral dichotomy to an appreciation of how interacting with people who are differently moral to us leads to a more nuanced view of any issue and eventually to better solutions.
 The second half of this workshop introduces techniques designed to help you:

• Recognize the moral underpinnings of your own views
  
  
• Listen for indications that one or more of the six moral foundations is at play
  
  
• Bring morality in a discussion in a non confrontational way
  
  

Pre-read Material

Jonathan Haidt: The moral roots of liberals and conservatives (https://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_haidt_the_moral_roots_of_liberals_and_conservatives?language=en)

Can a divided America heal? | Jonathan Haidt (https://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_haidt_can_a_divided_america_heal?language=en)

Note: Please download and print the handouts prior to class.

Join the Crossing Party Lines discussion and have a voice in our Nation’s Conversation! People of all views are welcomed, appreciated, and heard.

Please do your best to arrive at the beginning of the meeting – once we are in breakout rooms and the conversations have started, the meeting doors close to new arrivals. The breakout rooms open (and the doors close) approximately 15 minutes after the hour.

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