JULY 5-8
Plenaries
A total of 8 plenaries (all-delegate gatherings) over the course of the Convention focus on three main topics.
- The first is who we are and what brings us here. (“Why are we here?”)
- The second is America’s current work for depolarization in communities, campuses, politics, media, leadership training, and network-building. (“Where are we now?”)
- The third is our shared vision and action plan for going forward. (“Where are we going?”)
Breakouts
About 40 breakout opportunities (delegates choose which they want to attend) over the course of the convention divide into three main areas of focus.
- The first is delegates connecting with one another.
- The second is skills training and deep dives into issues.
- The third is the Convention platform and what happens after the Convention.
Schedule
Wednesday, July 5
4:00 pm – 5:30 pm
9:15 pm
Thursday, July 6
9:15 pm
Optional Small Gatherings
Friday, July 7
9:15 pm
Optional Small Gatherings
Saturday, July 8
7:30 pm
12:00 – 6:00 pm
Registration
4:00 – 5:30 pm
Welcome gatherings led by Braver Angels Ambassadors
5:45 – 6:45 pm
Dinner
7:00 – 9:00 pm
Opening Plenary
9:15 pm
Optional Evening Activities
Thursday, July 6
7:30 – 8:30 am
Breakfast
8:30 – 9:45 am
Plenary 2
9:45 – 10:15 am
Break / Refreshments
10:15 – 10:30 am
Be seated for directions to breakout sessions
10:30 am – 12:15 pm
Breakouts
12:15 – 1:15 pm
Lunch
1:15 – 2:30 pm
Plenary 3
2:30 – 2:45 pm
Travel to breakouts
2:45 – 4:15 pm
Breakouts
4:15 – 6:15 pm
Break / Special Gatherings
6:15 – 7:30 pm
Dinner
7:30 – 9:15 pm
Evening Events
9:15 pm
Optional Small Gatherings
Friday, July 7
7:30 – 8:30 am
Breakfast
8:30 – 9:45 am
Plenary 4
9:45 – 10:15 am
Break / Refreshments
10:15 – 10:30 am
Be seated for directions to breakout sessions
10:30 am – 12:15 pm
Breakouts
12:15 – 1:15 pm
Lunch
1:15 – 2:30 pm
Plenary 5
2:30 – 2:45 pm
Travel to breakouts
2:45 – 4:15 pm
Breakouts
4:15 – 6:15 pm
Break / Special Gatherings
6:15 – 7:15 pm
Dinner
7:15 – 9:15 pm
Evening Events
9:15 pm
Optional Small Gatherings
Saturday, July 8
7:30 – 8:30 am
Breakfast
8:30 -9:45 am
Plenary 6
9:45 – 10:15 am
Break / Refreshments / Instructions
10:15 – 10:30 am
Be seated for directions to breakouts
10:30 am – 12:00 pm
Breakouts
12:00 – 1:00 pm
Lunch
1:00 pm – 2:15 pm
Plenary 7
2:15 pm – 2:30 pm
Travel to breakouts
2:30 – 4:15 pm
Breakouts
4:15 – 5:45 pm
Closing Plenary
5:45 – 6:15 pm
Adjourn
6:15 – 7:30 pm
Dinner
7:30 pm
Closing Concert
Breakouts
Please note that this page will be updated with additional sessions as they are confirmed.
What happened on this hallowed ground in July 1863, when the nation was torn apart, and on the same ground later that year, when Abraham Lincoln spoke of “a new birth of freedom”? A bus tour of the battlefield was created for convention delegates and will be led by Bob Steenstra, a Gettysburg scholar and licensed battlefield guide. Bob believes in what we’re doing and is donating his services to our convention.
For both Black America and the current state of American divisiveness, what lessons can we learn from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ministry of nonviolent protest against injustice and his call for a beloved community?
A conversation between Tavis Smiley and Ian Rowe, moderated by John Wood, Jr.
Monica Guzmán, a Blue-leaning daughter, joins her conservative parents for a discussion on the challenges of bridging political divides within families — and what delegates can learn from their experience.
Moderated by Bill Doherty
We know Braver Angels programs meaningfully reduce polarization, but HOW do we know? Braver Angels Head of Evaluation Eliza Hawkins will present our newest evaluation report and explain our rigorous evaluation methodology. Data gathered since 2020 provide the hard numbers to back up our depolarization claims.
Am I aware of my “inner polarizer?” Who are the “four horsemen” of polarization? One of our classic workshops, the Depolarizing Within Workshop is designed to foster skills to help you lessen the effects of polarization when you encounter them in your political conversations.
This breakout brings together small, evenly divided group of conservatives and liberals (“reds” and “blues”) for a “fish bowl” designed by Braver Angels to help participants clarify disagreements, reduce stereotyped thinking, and discover common values.
Created by StoryCorps, this breakout brings together convention delegates with different political views to record 50-minute one-to-one conversations—not to debate politics, but to learn who we are as people. Audio recordings of each interview are archived at the Library of Congress. They remind the country of the humanity in all of us, even those with whom we disagree.
Donna Murphy and Bruce France will pair you up for a tried and true, structured Braver Angels 1:1 Red/Blue Conversation between one conservative and one liberal, or our new 1:1 Conversation About the Golden Rule that EVERYONE should participate in at least once! It’s been called “A surprisingly deep and restorative conversation,” “a brilliant concept,” and “the best Braver Angels event I have ever attended.”
A common ground workshop on trustworthy elections, carried out over the course of two breakouts on the same day led by Reena Bernards and others. This workshop will include 6 red and 6 blue participants, as well as observers. The workshop is a part of the larger trustworthy elections campaign, and the points of agreement reached will inform the team’s report to the nation.
Gangstagrass, our 2023 Convention’s Artist in Residence, leads a wide-ranging discussion on the roots of American music, exploring how the artificial genre divisions that persist today were created for marketing purposes during the Jim Crow era when the recorded music industry was born, and how music can help bring us together across divides.
Led by Mark M. Beckwith. Mark was the tenth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark and is the author of the 2022 book Seeing the Unseen: Beyond Prejudices, Paradigms and Party Lines (available in the Convention bookstore).
A workshop and brainstorming session for students, faculty, and administrators on creating student organizations dedicated to multi-partisan conversations. This session will be led by BridgeUSA, a youth-led nonprofit organization that creates spaces on high school and college campuses for open discussion between students about political issues.
Join with other young people for a respectful and constructive conversation across difference about college affordability and student debt. This session will be led by BridgeUSA, a youth-led nonprofit organization that creates spaces on high school and college campuses for open discussion between students about political issues.
Want to learn to write songs? Then record and perform them? Guided by professional musicians eager to teach and inspire you? Here’s your chance! Led by the BA Music Team and members of the musical group Gangstagrass – our 2023 Convention’s Artist in Residence. On Friday, delegates will participate in a Common Ground Workshop in the morning breakout session and then reconvene in the afternoon breakout to write original songs. On Saturday, delegates will rehearse and record their songs in the morning breakout, and then perform them at the closing concert Saturday night!
How can I talk to my political other? What are the practical tools for navigating difficult political conversations?
This classic Braver Angels workshop teaches skills for having respectful conversations that clarify differences, search for common ground, and affirm the importance of the relationship. They also give participants a safe environment to practice those skills.
How to Have an Energizing Meeting
What’s worse than an unproductive meeting? In this breakout, learn best practices for planning and facilitating meetings that are engaging, energizing, and productive – where things get done and people feel good about the process. Using these skills can strengthen your entire organizational culture. Led by Bill J. Doherty. A cofounder of Braver Angels and professor of family social science at the University of Minnesota, Bill is one of the nation’s leading authorities on meeting design and leadership in civic groups.
Disinformation seeks to divide, not just deceive. Propaganda and polarization are two sides of the same coin. Is it possible to both defend reality and reduce polarization? Led by Jonathan Rauch. Jonathan is a senior fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution and the author of the 2021 book The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth. A founding board member of Braver Angels, his previous books include Political Realism and Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America.
Braver Angels Leaders will provide essential information on field experiences with an innovative packaging of standard workshops with a ‘wrapper’ suitable for a variety of faith organizations. Hear about results of pilots and plans for future offerings in other faith traditions.
Interested in forming an alliance but not sure how? Braver Angels Field Leaders will discuss the best ways to go about developing an alliance, recruiting members, and building programs.
On contentious issues such as gay rights and immigration, Utah’s leaders in recent years have consistently worked together toward compromises. What is the “Utah Way” and is it relevant to the nation as a whole? Led by Paul S. Edwards and Erika Munson. Erika teaches English at the Waterford School in Sandy, Utah, and is the Utah State Co-Coordinator for Braver Angels. Paul directs the Wheatley Institute at Brigham Young University and has previously served as editor of the Deseret News and deputy chief of staff for Utah Governor Gary E. Herbert.
What it is and what it isn’t. Led by Hunter S. Baker and Glenn T. Stanton. Hunter is dean of arts and sciences and a professor of political philosophy at Union University and serves as chairman of the Braver Angels board of directors. He’s the author of The End of Secularism and The System Has a Soul. Glenn is director of Global Family Formation Studies at Focus on the Family and a member of the Braver Angels board of directors. He’s the author of The Myth of the Dying Church.
All over the world, experiments in deliberative democracy are giving citizens new influence in government. This session will explore how citizens’ assemblies could change everything we know about politics. Led by Jason S. Canon. Jason is a political scientist and the director of new partnerships at the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University.
How to Build Relationships with Politicians
How do I approach politicians? How do I speak their language? Head of Braver Politics Elizabeth Doll breaks down the art of engaging candidates, elected officials, and political staffers.
How to confront tech as a structural driver of harmful polarization and a call to action for a working group focused on tech sector reforms in line with the work of the Council on Technology and Social Cohesion. Led by Braver Angels CTO Andrew Stillman, Braver Angels Chief Technology Officer and Lisa Schirch, Director of the Peace Tech and Polarization Lab at the University of Notre Dame.
These aren’t your normal debates. The format encourages everyone to speak or ask questions, ensures civility in disagreement, and strives for learning and better understanding for all. This kind of debate is intended as a collaborative search for truth. In addition to the premier evening debates, you can participate in debates such as:
• Should We Re-Elect President Trump?
• Should We Defend Free Speech, No Matter What?
• Should We Re-Elect President Biden?
• Should We Take Down All Monuments to Slaveholders?
• Should We Abolish DEI?
Join the platform committee to revise the draft platform before delegates vote on it in the afternoon.
Want to learn to write songs? Then record and perform them? Guided by professional musicians eager to teach and inspire you? Here’s your chance! Led by the BA Music Team and members of the musical group Gangstagrass – our 2023 in-house Convention band. The delegates will then have the opportunity to rehearse/record them live in a breakout session the following day and then perform them live at our Closing Night Concert.
What are the keys to conversion? Braver Angels Field Leaders teach the most successful methods for converting subscribers, event-goers, and volunteers into members.
Special Evening Events
THURSDAY JULY 6
“An Elitist and a Deplorable Walk Into a Bar…”
A conversation between Francis Collins, former Director of the National Institutes of Health, and Wilk Wilkinson, the conservative leader of We The People’s project.
Four Score is about Gettysburg, the American Story, and generational reflection. How do we remember? What stories and songs do we share? What does it mean to us today?
Premier Debate: Is America the Greatest Nation in the World?
A structured debate in which we think together, listen carefully to one another, and allow ourselves to be touched and perhaps changed by each other’s ideas.
FRIDAY JULY 7
A discussion featuring U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips.
Premier Debate: Is America a Racist Nation?
A structured debate in which we think together, listen carefully to one another, and allow ourselves to be touched and perhaps changed by each other’s ideas.