Understanding and Overcoming Empathy Walls: The First Steps Toward Civic Conversation

As part of a class, students read, discussed, and wrote about the book Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Hochschild. The following essay represents their collective thoughts and answers to three reflective prompts about empathy walls, one of the central themes of the book, and their role and importance in civil conversation.