How do we effectively intervene in polarizing discussions and debates? Here are my top 4 recommended strategies, based on 20+ years of experience facilitating conversations on “hot” topics. These principles draw from decolonial theory and practice, feminist theory especially Black feminism, Indigenous ways of knowing, Buddhism, and critical pedagogy. 1. Normalize Repair, Not Harm 2. Moving Beyond Right and Wrong 3. Embrace the Pause 4. Resisting Hierarchies.

Perhaps you've heard some people describe Doug Emhoff, husband of Kamala Harris, as a "cultural Jew." Unlike Christians, Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group. Referring to Jewish people only or primarily as a religious group misses the mark because it fails to represent our felt sense of Jewish cultural identity. For me, being Jewish is a core part of my identity, like being gay. Without being Jewish, I would not be "me." It is for us--not others--to define how our traditions shape who we are and how we identify.

Leaders, saying the words "safe space" is not a magic wand that--abracadabra!-- transforms your workplace or team meeting into a zone of safety. Power dynamics impact your ability to build cultures of psychological safety for team members with different social identities, personalities, privilege, and lived experience. The most important question you should always ask yourself is, "Safe space for whom?” Because of the conflation of safety and comfort, I advocate for spaces that are both safe and brave. In brave spaces, we own our impact on others (regardless of our intentions) and are accountable for supporting all of our colleagues' psychological safety.

When you said "women's rights are human rights," did you mean only women who look a certain way, act a certain way, and have a certain type of body? Only women who aren't too strong or too fast? Cisgender women are not threatened or victimized by transgender and gender expansive people. If you are a White cis woman who is appropriating the language of women’s rights to inflict life-threatening harm on trans, Black, Brown, Indigenous or other marginalized communities who already experience widespread discrimination, you are not a feminist; you’re a fascist. White cis women, we should be standing in solidarity with all of our sisters/siblings, not weaponizing our womanhood and femininity against transgender women, gender expansive people, and Global Majority people. Weaponizing transphobia for political gain is the antithesis of feminism.

The false allegations, hatred, and bullying directed against Algerian boxer Imane Khelif is a global disgrace. As a Women's and Gender Studies professor for 20+ years, I can attest that gender policing of Olympians is not new. It has its roots in Nazi Germany (link in the comments) where two White women runners—including American Helen Stephens—were accused of being men at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. Almost 90 years later, gender policing continues to harm Olympians like Imane. Making false allegations about athletes' gender (typically based on sexist and heteronormative assumptions) is a form of harassment and bullying. Furthermore, White, Eurocentric ideals of femininity contribute to the heightened gender policing of female athletes of color from the Global South.

Despite the vitriol we're seeing in this election, something amazing is happening. Kamala Harris is teaching people in the US and around the world how to reimagine the traditional boundary between Blackness and Whiteness.I admire the way Vice President Harris has responded to racist (and sexist) attacks against her, firmly rejecting racial polarization while also challenging the antiblackness of her critics. Deftly navigating the “what-are-you-really?” questions, Kamala reminds us of a powerful truth: People are the experts on their own lives.

I'm writing with a heavy heart. Today the University of Missouri-Columbia, where I was a faculty member for 22 years, announced the elimination of the Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Division. Since last year DEI changes have been made at 185 universities across 25 states, undermining efforts to create diverse and welcoming campus communities for all students, faculty and staff. Statements about diversity, equity, and inclusion will be hollow without the policies and support systems that help ALL students succeed and feel a sense of belonging. If we want to promoting student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness, higher education leaders must defend and strengthen DEI. Educational excellence requires inclusive excellence.

When it comes to courageous conversations, one of the most common mistakes we make is not thinking through what happens after them. Every Monday in July I’ve been sharing tools and practical suggestions for how to prepare for and navigate tough talks with courage, curiosity, and compassion. In this series we learned:

🧠 What is a courageous conversation?

🗣 What's the difference between dialogue and debate?

🍽 How to "set the table" for a courageous conversation.

💪 How to have a courageous conversation with confidence.

To wrap up the series, let's address a question that isn't discussed as often as it should be: “What Comes After a Courageous Conversation?”

I am a queer, Jewish, childless woman with a stake in the future of our country. My spouse and I just celebrated our 31st anniversary. Contrary to what some folks are saying, diversity, not sameness, is America’s greatest strength. Real Americans don’t have children. Real Americans use IVF technology and adopt. Real Americans are stepparents and have blended families. This shouldn't be a partisan issue. It's simply about respecting people who may look, act, or think differently than you do. Belonging begins with us.

The most difficult part of most courageous conversations isn't the conversation itself; it's just knowing you need to have it. But how?! I’m Dr. Elisa Glick and I help leaders build trust in the workplace, one courageous conversation at a time. Welcome to the 4th installment in my Courageous Conversation series. Every Monday in July I'm posting tools and strategies for navigating courageous conversations. Today, let's roll up our proverbial sleeves and discuss how to stop worrying, stressing, and procrastinating and have a courageous conversation with confidence!

Did you know that France, host country of the 2024 Olympics, is the only country in Europe with bans on religious headwear? Hijab bans in sports are human rights violations and a direct attack on the rights and identities of Muslim women. It’s time for all feminists and human rights advocates to speak out and support inclusivity in sports!

As I’ve learned from my own antiracism journey, white privilege seems amorphous to those who have it. But the material gains that racism confers upon White Americans can be calculated in dollars and cents. Journalist Tracie McMillan has done the math to prove it.

Gender isn’t a binary; it’s a galaxy! 🪐 This post is my invitation to everyone—both those in the LGBTQIA2S+ community and our allies—to celebrate and make space for all the beautiful constellations of gender. The gender galaxy decenters the binary, and that’s liberatory for all humans…including you!

Did you know that nearly 4 in 10 employed US workers say that their manager fails to frequently engage in honest conversations about work topics? And 3 in 10 say that their manager doesn’t encourage a culture of open and transparent communication? Welcome to the third installment in my Courageous Conversation series! Every Monday in July I'm posting tools and strategies for navigating courageous conversations. Today, let's discuss how to set the table for a courageous conversation. The conversation that you’re uncomfortable having is probably the conversation you most need to have. But how?  “Setting the table” for a courageous conversation requires clarifying the agreements or expectations for the conversation itself.

One of the paradoxes of our world is that we have increased connectivity and yet are growing farther apart. In our workplaces, in public life, and on social media, polarizing debates and weaponized language are so common that communication itself often feels like a battleground. We demand to be heard, but we often aren’t listening. We think we're having a conversation, but we're having a “monologue disguised as dialogue.” While debate is valuable and necessary, it doesn't help us when it comes to having courageous conversations. Debate increases polarization. Dialogue, in contrast, is the foundation for all courageous conversations because it increases trust.

People sometimes ask me if I find it problematic to use they/them as singular pronouns. You’re an English professor, they say. How can you embrace “grammatically incorrect” pronouns? The notion that nonbinary pronouns, such as the singular “they,” is a new phenomenon is wrong. The Oxford English Dictionary traces back the first written use of a singular they to 1375, where it appears in the medieval romantic poem “William and the Werewolf.” The singular they was used in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales (1386) and Shakespeare's Hamlet in 1599. It appears in 1813 in Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice. Charles Dickens used they to anonymize gender in The Pickwick Papers (1836). So grammar nerds, nonbinary pronouns were good enough for Chaucer, Shakespeare, Jane Austen and Charles Dickens but not you?

One of the best ways to build trust, strengthen your team, and work through conflict is to have consistent, meaningful, and authentic conversations with your team. I’m Dr. Elisa Glick and I help leaders build trust in the workplace, one courageous conversation at a time. Welcome to my Courageous Conversation series! This month I’ll be posting tools and strategies for courageous conversations. I’ll share practical suggestions for how to prepare for and navigate tough talks with courage, curiosity, and compassion. To kick off the series, let's address a question that I’m often asked, which is “what is a courageous conversation?”

A world without beauty is a world without love. So during Pride month, please join me in embracing queer beauty as a vision of hope and resistance. Subverting notions of masculinity and machismo, installation artist Gabriel Dawe’s work captures the transcendent beauty that queer and trans people bring to the world. His almost-not-there rainbows materialize a vision of liberation and wholeness, offering a sense of hope during difficult times.

I have never denied the uniqueness of Jewish people's relationship to our ancient homeland. I take issue with two things: first, the colonial notion that this land is just for Jews and, second, the notion that Jewish self-determination must come at the expense of Palestinian self-determination. Under international human rights law, Jewish people AND Palestinian people have a collective right to political self-determination. All human beings have equal rights, dignity, and value.

Gender is important, gender is complicated, and gender is personal. This is true not only for trans and nonbinary folks but also for cisgender people…including my spouse and me. I find that in personal and professional settings, many people often “forget” the complexity of gender identity and expression when they ascribe gender to others based on visual appearance. This happens to me all the time. The next time you use terms that ascribe gender to others, I invite you to consider that you may be creating a feeling of dissonance for them that decreases their sense of belonging.