UW–Madison’s Clifton Conrad and Todd Lundberg have recently published an opinion piece for The Hill titled, “There’s a path away from toxic polarization: shared problem-solving.”

Conrad is a Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor with the School of Education’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis. Lundberg is the associate director for campus partner engagement with UW–Madison’s Center for Teaching, Learning & Mentoring.
Conrad and Lundberg are also co-authors of the award-winning 2022 book, “Learning With Others: Collaboration as a Pathway to College Student Success.”
In their piece, Conrad and Lundberg explain that, “Shared problem-solving is not only a way forward for our colleges and universities, but also for our families, communities, workplaces, democracy, nation-state, and beyond. Anchoring our identities in ‘us-versus-them’ group alliances reinforces polarization that radically limits our capacity to pursue promising ideas that address real-world problems.”
To learn more, check out the full op-ed at thehill.com.