Hear Me Out: A Lesson in Civil Discourse

Abstract This article describes an innovative and engaging lecture and class exercise designed to teach students how to think critically about issues from different perspectives and communicate effectively with those who disagree with them. The interactive lecture and class exercise introduce a civil discourse framework to encourage constructive dialogue. Developed for business law and ethics courses, the civil discourse framework enhances any curriculum that addresses controversial topics or different perspectives on complex issues. The lecture and class exercise offer a concrete, replicable model to teach civil discourse.