Students shy away from disagreement in class. One Marquette program is changing that

College instructors are facing quieter classrooms: few questions, little debate between students, not much feedback. Educators place some blame on the pandemic and virtual learning. Others point to social media. This class of college freshmen were born around 2006. So it’s safe to say they’ve seen their fair share of people fighting online.

Dr. Amelia Zurcher is trying to correct that. She launched a civic discourse curriculum three years ago to help teach students how to disagree with one another. WUWM education reporter Katherine Kokal spoke with her about the program and how disagreements about campus speech are taking shape.