Conversation & Controversy

The following experiences and sources were used in the development of the course:

May 2012 - October 2015 Harrisburg, PA
Research Assistant to Eric Epstein, former visiting assistant professor of humanities at Pennsylvania State University-Harrisburg, Pennsylvania House of Representatives Democratic candidate, 30+-year environmental/political activist, and chair of Three Mile Island Alert, a nuclear energy watchdog group. Responsibilities included publishing state- and local-level policy research initiatives via Epstein’s Rock the Capital, a Harrisburg-based nonpartisan voter education organization.

COURSE-SPECIFIC RESEARCH

Books on Education:

Claire & Holden. The Challenge of Teaching Controversial Issues

Graff & Birkenstein. They Say / I Say

Lukianoff. Unlearning Liberty

Lukianoff & Haidt. The Coddling of the American Mind

Bloom. The Closing of the American Mind

Twenge. iGen: Why Today's Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy--and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood

Twenge. The Narcissism Epidemic

Goodlad. What Schools are for (2nd Ed.)

Mitchell, Crowson & Shipps. Shaping Education Policy

Smith. Alternative Schools

Chenoweth. It's Being Done: Academic Success in Unexpected Schools

Levine & Cureton. When Hope and Fear Collide

Kohn. Punished by Rewards

Tyack & Cuban. Tinkering Toward Utopia

Books on Communication:

Benson. Why Are We Yelling?

Stone, Patton & Heen. Difficult Conversations

Patterson, Grenny, McMillan & Switzler. Crucial Conversations

Goulston. Talking to "Crazy"

Boghossian & Lindsay. How to Have Impossible Conversations

Cloud & Townsend. How to Have that Difficult Conversation

Mortensen. Maximum Influence

Covey. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Graff & Birkenstein. They Say / I Say

Heinrichs. Thank You for Arguing

Rosenberg. Nonviolent Communication

Taibbi. Hate, Inc.

Atkins. Skewed

Books on Politics:

Smith & Berg. Parodoxes of Group Life

Haidt. The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion

Bevins. Failure by Design: The Story Behind America's Broken Economy

Glasbeek. Wealthy by Stealth

Roland. Privatization

Albert. Parecon

Johnson. The Sorrows of Empire

Chomsky. Understanding Power

Todd. After the Empire

Paul. The Revolution

Hume. The United Nations, Iran, and Iraq

Levitt. Freakonomics

Beck. Arguing with Idiots

Sklar. Chaos or Community: Seeking Solutions, Not Scapegoats for Bad Economics

Sklar, Mykyta, & Wefald. Raise the Floor: Wages and Policies that Work for All of Us

Tuschman. Our Political Nature

Appiah. Cosmopolitanism

Gairdner. The Great Divide

Klein. Why We're Polarized

Green, Palmquist & Schickler. Partisan Hearts & Minds

Sowell. A Conflict of Visions

Berger. Extremism

Ronson. So You've Been Publicly Shamed

Gutfeld. The Joy of Hate

Founders of March for Our Lives. Glimmer of Hope

Briggs. How America Got Its Guns

Lakoff. The Political Mind

Westen. The Political Brain

Rosling. Factfulness

Murray. Coming Apart

Trueman. The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self

Sheehan. The Pentagon Papers

Domhoff. Who Rules America? Power, Politics & Social Change

Chang. 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism

Stiglitz. Globalization & Its Discontents

Carey. Taking the Risk out of Democracy: Corporate Propaganda Versus Freedom and Liberty

Meyer. Rationally Right: An Explanation of the Conservative Paradigm

Singer. The Expanding Circle: Ethics, Evolution, and Moral Progress

Zinn. The Zinn Reader: Writings on Disobedience and Democracy

Lieberman. Macroeconomics: Principles & Applications

Zinn. A People's History of the United States

Berlin. The Crooked Timber of Humanity

Kick. You Are Being Lied to

Joyce. The Evolution of Morality

Kendi. How to be an Antiracist

Saad. Me and White Supremacy

Goodman. Promoting Diversity and Social Justice

Tatum. Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?

Newkirk. Diversity, Inc.

West. Race Matters

Stevenson. Just Mercy: A Story of Love and Redemption

DiAngelo. White Fragility

Eberhardt. Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do

Buck. Acting White

Banks. Is Marriage for White People? How the African American Marriage Decline Affects Everyone

Delpit. Other People's Children

Allport. The Nature of Prejudice

Williams. Self-Portrait in Black & White

Sander & Taylor, Jr. Mismatch: How Affirmative Action Hurts Students It's Intended to Help, and Why University Won't Admit It

Xu. An Inconvenient Minority

Michaels. The Trouble with Diversity

MacDonald. The Diversity Delusion

Bruce. The Victims' Revolution

Pluckrose & Lindsay. Cynical Theories

Trueman. The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self

Williams. Losing My Cool

Steele. White Guilt

McWhorter. Losing the Race

Riley. Please Stop Helping Us

Coleman. Black Victim to Black Victor

D'Souza. The End of Racism

Pincourt. Counter Wokecraft

Washington. Up from Slavery

Du Bois. The Autobiography of W.E.B Du Bois

Kozol. The Shame of a Nation

Emerald. The Power of TED: The Empowerment Dynamic

Kors & Silvergate. The Shadow University

Snyder. Undoctrinate

Irving. Waking Up White

Examples of articles/videos available upon request.