On Tuesday, April 21, The Westport Library welcomes NYU researcher Dr. Matthias Becker to reveal how hate, bias, and hidden messaging spreads across social media — often in ways you don't recognize.
Presented by the Library's Common Ground Initiative, this informative seminar invites participants of all ages to Decode Hate by providing the tools they need to identify harmful discourse and recognize how it shapes our worldview online and offline.
A consistent link between Dr. Becker's research activities is the question of how implicit hate speech is constructed and what conditions its production is subject to. He recently shared some insight with us that gives important context to his work.
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Common Ground Q&A
Westport Library: What is the work you are currently doing?
Matthias Becker: Think about the last time you scrolled through your feed and something made you uneasy — a comment that seemed off, a meme that landed wrong, a phrase you couldn't quite place but felt was doing something. Maybe it was about the war in Iran. Maybe it was about an election. You probably kept scrolling. That moment — that flicker of recognition before you moved on — is exactly where my research begins.
I lead a research project called Decoding Hate at New York University's Center for the Study of Antisemitism, where I study how hate speech, conspiracy narratives, and mis- and disinformation spread on social media — and how we can detect and counter them. We use a combination of linguistic analysis and AI-supported tools to examine hundreds of thousands of online comments, looking at not just what people say, but how they say it: the coded language, the irony, the strategic ambiguity that allows hateful ideas to circulate without ever sounding overtly extreme. Together with AddressHate, we're building detection systems that don't just flag risky content but identify what kind of harm is present and why — in language that's legible to educators, policymakers, and courts.
Westport Library: Why is it such important work?
Matthias Becker: Because hate doesn't announce itself — and neither does the AI that's spreading it.
Most of what circulates online doesn't look like the crude hatred of decades past. It looks like irony, insinuation, strategic ambiguity — ideas traveling in plain sight, just below the threshold of what most people would call extreme. The distinction between free speech and hate speech matters enormously here — and it's precisely this coded, ambiguous nature of modern hate that makes drawing that line so difficult, and so consequential. That also makes these expressions extraordinarily hard to detect, for humans and AI systems alike.
My research addresses three interconnected drivers of this problem. First, coordinated bad actors who deliberately exploit divisive issues and manufacture disinformation at scale. Second, platform algorithms that reward outrage and amplify the most emotionally charged content, regardless of whether it's true or harmful. Third, the conditions of online communication itself — anonymity, mutual reinforcement, constant exposure to extremity — which turn ordinary users into unwitting amplifiers of hate. If we don't understand these mechanics, we can't build tools that actually work — and communities, educators, and platforms remain one step behind.
And here's the deeper problem: most public debate about AI and hate focuses on what AI produces — offensive outputs, extremist content. That's real. But it's downstream of a harder issue: what AI absorbs. Every major model shows consistent bias toward hateful associations — not because engineers are hateful, but because models were trained on centuries of human text in which those associations are already embedded. You can add guardrails. The underlying associations remain.
Westport Library: How does this work affect those who come to the talk?
Matthias Becker: Everyone in that room uses social media — or lives with someone who does. The talk is designed to give people practical insight into what's actually happening in the digital spaces they inhabit every day: why certain content keeps showing up in their feeds, how ordinary-seeming posts can normalize extreme ideas over time, and what they can do about it.
But it goes further than awareness. We'll look closely at how irony, coded language, and strategic ambiguity allow hate speech, conspiracy narratives, and disinformation to spread while evading both human recognition and automated detection — and how algorithms and coordinated actors actively accelerate that process. You'll leave with a sharper eye for what you're seeing online, a clearer understanding of the structural forces shaping it, and concrete tools to act — because recognizing how manipulation works is the first step toward refusing it.
The talk is designed for a general adult audience, but the core questions — why do people share harmful content, how do algorithms shape what we see, what does coded language actually do — translate directly into a school-facing format as well. I'd be delighted to work with the library on a version tailored for students, whether as a classroom visit, a youth program, or a separate evening event. Digital literacy around hate, disinformation, and algorithmic influence is arguably most urgent for the generation that has grown up entirely inside these systems — and there is no more important investment we can make than equipping young people to see clearly, think critically, and push back.
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Tuesday, April 21, 6 pm
Decode Hate Video Challenge for Teens
Calling all teens — Make the internet a better place, one video at a time! Join us in Brooks Place before Dr. Becker's seminar to find out how you can win up to $1000 by creating a compelling video that challenges hate and bias on social media.
Tuesday, April 21, 7 pm
Decode Hate on Social Media with Matthias J. Becker
As social media transcends the boundaries of the digital world, how do we differentiate between free speech and hate speech online — and how do we combat its harmful effects? Dr. Becker will deliver an informative seminar for an intergenerational audience that emphasizes practical, research-informed insight into understanding and navigating contemporary online discourse and its real-world consequences.
Thursday, May 28, 6 pm
Teens' Decode Hate Video Challenge Awards Ceremony & Follow-Up Discussion
Join the top five finalists of our Decode Hate Video Challenge for a LIVE judging panel and awards ceremony to celebrate the winners with cash prizes! Dr. Matthias Becker will be attendance as one of the judges and will hold a public Q&A forum for participants who would like to debrief regarding his April 21st event.
Join us for part two of Dr. Becker's April 21 talk, featuring a judging panel and awards ceremony for our Teen Video Challenge. Revisit key themes from Dr. Becker’s research and celebrate the next generation using their creativity to take on one of today's most important conversations.
Video submissions from the top five finalists will be reviewed by a LIVE judging panel featuring Dr. Becker, who will also provide opportunity for follow-up with a public Q&A forum and debrief regarding his April 21st event.
The video challenge discussion will bring out some key practical takeaways to augment the discussion for all ages.
In connection with the Decoding Hate and Bias on Social Media with Dr. Matthias Becker event, teens have the opportunity to engage, create and compete — and to rethink how social media shapes hate by making a 1-2 minute video that exposes how hate and bias spread on social media — and shows how we can push back.
Click here for more information about the contest, including guidelines, structure, and prizes. (Win up to $1000!)
Powered by... The Westport Library and Gerber Family Foundation
As social media transcends the boundaries of the digital world, how do we differentiate between free speech and hate speech online — and how do we combat its harmful effects?
The Westport Library is excited to present a special interactive Common Ground experience that will answer these questions and more, giving participants of all ages the tools they need to Decode Hate — by identifying harmful discourse and recognizing how it shapes our worldview online and offline.
Support for this Common Ground Initiative special presentation with Matthias Becker is provided by CT Humanities as part of its America 250 | CT program.
Civil Discourse
Opposing Viewpoints Database
Fostering Conversation Through Rhetoric
Pizza & Debrief: 6-7 pm
Seminar with Dr. Becker: 7-8:30 pm — Click here to register
Judging Panel & Awards Ceremony: Thursday, May 28, 6-7 pm
Calling all teens — Make the internet a better place, one video at a time! Join us in Brooks Place before our Decoding Bias and Hate on Social Media event to find out how you can win up to $1000 by creating a compelling video that challenges hate and bias on social media.
Join us afterward for Dr. Matthias Becker's seminar from 7 to 8:30 pm to learn more and put it into practice with your video entry. At least one teammate from your entry group must attend the seminar.
Read more below for the full timeline and challenge guidelines.
As social media transcends the boundaries of the digital world, how do we differentiate between free speech and hate speech online — and how do we combat its harmful effects?
The Westport Library is excited to present a special interactive Common Ground experience that will answer these questions and more, giving participants of all ages the tools they need to Decode Hate — by identifying harmful discourse and recognizing how it shapes our worldview online and offline.
Led by renowned research scholar Dr. Matthias J. Becker, the centerpiece of this three-part experience is a 90-minute seminar on April 21 at 7 pm, free to attend and open to all.
Prior to the seminar on April 21, high school students are invited to join us in Brooks Place at 6 pm to learn about the second component of this experience: an accompanying Decode Hate Video Challenge for Teens. We'll kick things off with pizza as we spark the conversation on bias and hate — from slurs to memes to microaggressions and more.
This challenge offers teens the chance to speak up and create a compelling 1-2 minute video that demonstrates how social media shapes hate. Together, we’ll expose how bias spreads and flip the script toward respect, empathy, and real conversation.
Use your voice for change and win cash prizes! First place wins $1000; second place: $750; third place: $500.
Following this informative session, challenge participants will join us for Dr. Becker's talk at 7 pm. Learn something new and get inspired to turn Dr. Becker's expertise into a narrative that shines a light on hate and makes your audience think.
Challenge participants and seminar attendees are then invited to return on Thursday, May 28 at 6 pm for a LIVE judging panel and awards ceremony with the top five finalists. Join us as we award the winners and celebrate the impact of our community as it comes together to uplift each other's voices.
Support for this Common Ground Initiative special presentation with Matthias Becker is provided by CT Humanities as part of its America 250 | CT program.
Calling on all high school students to engage, create and compete — and to rethink how social media shapes hate. Together, we’ll expose how bias spreads and show how to flip the script toward respect, empathy, and real conversation.
First, we’ll kick things off at 6 pm (with pizza!) and a debrief with Dr. Matthias Becker, then join the full Decoding Hate & Bias on Social Media seminar at 7 pm. There, you will uncover both explicit and covert hate and bias online — from obvious slurs to hidden memes — and then turn what you learned into a short, powerful video that wakes people up, sparks change, and helps rewrite the narrative.
Turn what you learned in the Decoding Hate seminar into a 1–2 minute video that exposes how hate and bias spread on social media — and shows how we can push back. You’ll dig into real posts, memes, and trends and turn them into a powerful piece that grabs attention and actually makes your audience think.
The Top 5 finalists will be present in front of a panel of judges at the Library on May 28 at 6 pm.
Hit all three parts:
1. Identify the problem
2. Make it personal
3. Drop your insight
As social media transcends the boundaries of the digital world, how do we differentiate between free speech and hate speech online — and how do we combat its harmful effects?
The Westport Library is excited to present a special interactive Common Ground experience that will answer these questions and more, giving participants of all ages the tools they need to Decode Hate — by identifying harmful discourse and recognizing how it shapes our worldview online and offline.
Led by renowned research scholar Dr. Matthias J. Becker, the centerpiece of this three-part experience is a 90-minute seminar and Q&A on April 21 at 7 pm, free to attend and open to all.
Prior to the seminar on April 21, high school students are invited to join us in Brooks Place at 6 pm to learn about the second component of this experience: an accompanying Decode Hate Video Challenge for Teens. We'll kick things off with pizza as we spark the conversation on bias and hate — from slurs to memes to microaggressions and more.
This challenge offers teens the chance to speak up and create a compelling 1-2 minute video that demonstrates how social media shapes hate. Together, we’ll expose how bias spreads and flip the script toward respect, empathy, and real conversation.
Use your voice for change and win cash prizes! First place wins $1000; second place: $750; third place: $500. Click here for more details and challenge guidelines.
Following this informative session, challenge participants will join us for Dr. Becker's talk at 7 pm. Learn something new and get inspired to turn Dr. Becker's expertise into a narrative that shines a light on hate and makes your audience think.
Challenge participants and seminar attendees are then invited to return on Thursday, May 28 at 6 pm for a LIVE judging panel and awards ceremony with the top five finalists. Join us as we award the winners and celebrate the impact of our community as it comes together to uplift each other's voices.
That same day, Dr. Becker will return to Brooks Place for an interactive second part to his seminar where we'll revisit the topics touched upon in the April 21 seminar.
Support for this Common Ground Initiative special presentation with Matthias Becker is provided by CT Humanities as part of its America 250 | CT program.
On April 21 at 7 pm, Dr. Becker will examine how social media platforms are reshaping the boundaries between free speech and hate speech — and how these shifts are affecting democratic culture, social cohesion, and public life in today’s polarized digital societies.
Drawing on over a decade of research in discourse studies and recent AI-supported social media analysis, the talk explores how online polarization, radicalization, and the spread of hate speech and conspiracy narratives are shaped by algorithms, attention economies, and platform-specific communication styles.
Dr. Becker is one of the world’s foremost experts on the impacts of social media on democracy and the social fabric.
The session at the Library will examine how the conditions of online communication have fundamentally transformed political discourse and societal exchange in recent years, with significant implications for how contemporary developments are debated and how individuals engage with diverging views. It then looks closely at how irony, ambiguity, implicit bias, and strategic vagueness allow illiberal and anti-democratic ideas to circulate in mainstream online spaces — often without appearing overtly extremist.
Through a combination of empirical case studies and theoretical reflection, Dr. Becker shows how digital communication dynamics shape what becomes visible, legitimate, or normalized in public debate, and how these processes affect social trust, democratic norms, and collective responsibility.
The evening combines a research-based lecture with an open, moderated discussion, inviting participants to reflect on civic responsibility, pluralism, and democratic resilience in digital environments. The program is designed for a broad audience and emphasizes practical, research-informed insight into understanding and navigating contemporary online discourse and its real-world consequences.
Dr. Matthias J. Becker is AddressHate Research Scholar at New York University's Center for the Study of Antisemitism. He is the founder and lead of Decoding Antisemitism, one of the largest studies of online antisemitism conducted worldwide, and now leads its successor project, Decoding Hate, at NYU's Center for the Study of Antisemitism. He also serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Digital Hate Review.
As part of Verso University’s mission of lifelong learning and in partnership with the Library’s Common Ground Initiative, Steve Parrish, Westporter and retired Senior VP of Corporate Affairs of Altria Group, Inc., will lead Common Ground Conversations: Foundations in Civil Discourse, a six-part interactive training series exploring the nature and value of civil discourse — constructive, attentive, and non-aggressive conversation between people with different views — in public and private conversations.
The course includes case studies, guest speakers, roleplay, participant engagement, and more. Upon completion of the series, participants receive a Certificate in Civil Discourse from the Library.
Space is limited to ensure individual attention, and attendance at all sessions is preferred.
Civil discourse is the foundation of a healthy, connected community. Join fellow Westporters in learning how to hold conversations that are open, respectful, and constructive, even when viewpoints differ. Guided by Steve Parrish’s decades of experience navigating complex public issues, you’ll develop tools to foster understanding and collaboration in your personal, professional, and civic life.
As Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs of Altria Group, Inc., Steve Parrish was responsible for the corporation’s government relations, communications, issues management, philanthropy and compliance departments and led the company’s outreach to public health organizations, civic groups, the media and government. Media appearances include: Meet the Press, Face the Nation, The Today Show, Nightline and PBS News Hour.
For more than a decade, Steve worked with bipartisan members of Congress, regulators, and public health officials in support of proposals to grant the FDA authority to regulate the tobacco industry. His efforts were documented in ABC’s Peter Jennings Reporting, a New York Times Magazine cover story, and former FDA Commissioner David Kessler’s national best-seller A Question of Intent.
After retiring from Altria in 2008, Steve founded Steve Parrish Consulting Group, LLC, specializing in crisis management, corporate social responsibility, public affairs and communications. He is currently on the Board of Directors of Orchestra Lumos (formerly Stamford Symphony Orchestra) and Director Emeritus of the Board of Trustees of Carleton College, the League of American Orchestras and Safe Horizon, an internationally recognized victims’ assistance organization. Steve’s past board service includes the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Milano School of the New School University, and Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation.
The Common Ground Initiative is The Westport Library’s forum for public discourse on topical issues of importance to the community. The aim of the initiative is to: host a positive, productive conversation on how we work together to move forward as a civil society; encourage respectful, constructive dialogue; and build capacity to tackle challenging and/or controversial issues.
Verso University is the Library’s lifelong learning and education initiative, serving up year-round offerings of classes, workshops, and lectures designed to further education and learning. Offerings run the gamut of educational opportunities, ranging from one-time lectures to ongoing courses to classes that meet weekly or perhaps monthly.
Verso University programs are made possible by the generous support of the Nancy J. Beard Lifelong Learning and Education Fund.
Civil Discourse
Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center
Those who approached the microphone were thoughtful, compassionate, and at times emotional, a wide cross-section of the Westport community gathered together to discuss one of the pressing issues of our time: antisemitism.
In all, nearly 400 people packed The Westport Library’s Trefz Forum on Thursday, November 13, for a special Westport Library Common Ground Initiative event focused on understanding Jewish identity, antisemitism, and allyship.
“The program was an important first step to opening up the conversation about antisemitism,” said Rabbi Jeremy Wiederhorn, the spiritual leader of The Community Synagogue (TCS) in Westport. “While many of us may not have agreed on every aspect of the approach, that's the beauty of Common Ground — a multiplicity of viewpoints listening and learning from each other.”
That community conversation was at the very heart of the evening — a one-hour presentation and 30-minute Q&A hosted by Eli Cohn-Postell and Kara Wilson of Project Shema, a training and support organization focused on addressing contemporary antisemitism.
“No doubt this is a complicated topic that triggers emotion and does not have a single point of view,” said event attendee Mark Altschuler. “But I thought the people from Project Shema were talented, committed, and prepared with slides that made a point and were supported by thoughtful comments. I especially liked the historical slides and education, and they managed the questions with sensitivity and respect. It was evident to me that they put a lot of time and thinking into the work.”
The focus for the evening: Creating a space for open conversation and respectful dialogue on issues of importance to the community. In that regard, the event was a resounding success.
“We live in a culture where people avoid hard conversations,” Westport Library Executive Director Bill Harmer said during the evening’s opening remarks. “That avoidance makes it harder to talk honestly, harder to recognize it when it appears, and harder to respond with clarity when it matters most.
“The challenge is fear, uncertainty, and a lack of shared language. When people do not feel confident or informed, they step back. And when we step back, misunderstanding grows in the space we leave behind. The purpose [of the antisemitism forum] is to help close that gap ... to move our community from hesitation to understanding, from intention to action, and from the comfort of silence to the courage of real dialogue.”
The presentation by Project Shema was far-reaching, centering on Jewish identity as cultural, national, and religious, as well as elucidating the historical context behind antisemitism and how it continues to plague our society, and discussing allyship and recognizing — and combatting, as a community — anti-Jewish harm.
At times in very personal ways, the conversation struck a chord with the audience — who represented the breadth of Westport, both Jewish community members and friends and allies — who stayed engaged throughout.
“Project Shema — inviting us to truly hear one another — provided me another building block for the Common Ground Initiative and its purpose: creating space for honest, respectful dialogue on difficult issues,” said Dennis Wong, chair of the Westport Sunrise Rotary Peace Committee and Rotary Peacebuilder Club. “By better understanding the slippery slope from dehumanization to violence, I am more committed than ever to being a Rotarian Peacebuilder — working to ensure that every person, every community, and every nation can live in safety, dignity, and well-being.”
Empathy and understanding were key topics of the evening — and also of the four-hour workshop the Library hosted earlier in the day, attended by town officials, civic leaders, business leaders, Library staff, and members of the Library’s board of trustees and Common Ground Initiative committee.
In both settings, Cohn-Postell and Wilson encouraged participants to move past binary thinking to transition from debate to dialogue: “How do you have a conversation not to agree,” said Wilson, “but to understand.”
“The workshop was a model of what The Westport Library’s Common Ground Initiative is designed to achieve: It encouraged attendees to engage in constructive, respectful conversation about a sensitive topic,” said Westport Library trustee Bruce Gaylord, who attended both sessions. “Getting people with potentially different perspectives together to talk about a difficult or sensitive issue is always helpful. Attendees get to hear thoughts from others that may challenge their own ideas, or they may learn things they had never thought of.”
The event was sponsored by Jon and Bobbi Roth and presented by the Library’s Common Ground Initiative, the Library’s forum for public dialogue on topical issues of importance to the community.
The Common Ground Initiative endeavors to host positive, productive conversations on how we work together to move forward as a civil society; encourage respectful, constructive dialogue; and tackle challenging and controversial issues.
“The Common Ground Initiative has been working toward the evolution of a framework by which Westporters and others with different perspectives on issues with significant nuance and complexity can discuss them in such a way that they reach common understandingof those different perspectives with civility and respect — even if they do not reach common agreement,” said Harold Bailey, chair of TEAM Westport and a Common Ground Initiative committee member. “Such understandingis critical to any progress toward fostering an engaged community and any ultimate resolution.”
Past Common Ground events have focused on bridging divides, social change, civil discourse, communicating to open minds, and global trade policy, and have included such guests as former Missouri Senator Roy Blunt, Pfizer Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Sally Susman, conflict resolution expert Ken Feinberg, author and CEO Fred Hochberg, and Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Tony La Russa.
To learn more about the Library’s Common Ground Initiative, including resources, news, and recordings of past events, please visit westportlibrary.org/about/common-ground-initiative.
And click here to learn more about Project Shema.
Join us for an extraordinary evening of insight and inspiration as a panel of nationally recognized innovators from the fields of business, sports, and the military share how they’ve navigated complex divisions to lead diverse teams toward common goals.
Featured panelists include:
The conversation will be facilitated by Dr. Allen Hilton, executive director of the House United Movement and Consulting Theologian at Greens Farms Church, who brings decades of experience in fostering dialogue across lines of difference.
Because, at a time when the United States is marked by deep political, racial, and cultural divides, the voices we need most are those who have successfully built unity across difference — not in theory, but in practice. And the remarkable panelists taking part in this panel discussion have done just that.
The Common Ground Initiative is The Westport Library's forum for public discourse on topical issues of importance to the community. The aim of the initiative is to host a positive, productive conversation on how we work together to move forward as a civil society; encourage respectful, constructive dialogue; and build capacity to tackle challenging and/or controversial issues.
Forget the podiums. Forget the stiff format. Forget the canned talking points. On this night, Westport’s three candidates for first selectman will sit shoulder-to-shoulder at the same dinner table, sharing a meal and a wide-ranging conversation in front of a live audience. No podiums. No speeches. Just authentic, unscripted dialogue that reveals who they are as people — not just as politicians.
Hosted by Dan Woog, executive editor of 06880, this is a rare, unfiltered glimpse into the people behind the campaigns — a chance to see the candidates engage with each other as neighbors and community members, not just rivals. Over the course of the evening, you’ll hear personal stories, moments of candor, and the values that shape their leadership styles. You’ll discover what drives them, what inspires them, and how they see the community — all in their own words.
The simple act of breaking bread changes the conversation. It builds trust, lowers defenses, and creates space for connection — the kind of space where genuine understanding can emerge. This intimate, interactive format is one-of-a-kind, and you won’t find it anywhere else in Westport. It’s an opportunity to walk away with a clearer sense of each candidate’s character, perspective, and leadership style before you cast your vote.
A Seat at the Selectman’s Table is part of the Library’s Common Ground Initiative, the Library's ongoing effort to foster respectful dialogue across differences and strengthen the civic fabric of our town. By bringing candidates together in this way, we’re making room for meaningful, human conversation — the kind that builds a stronger, more connected community.
Seats are limited. The conversation will be lively. And you will not get another chance like this before Election Day.
The Common Ground Initiative is The Westport Library’s forum for public discourse on topical issues of importance to the community. The aim of the initiative is to: host a positive, productive conversation on how we work together to move forward as a civil society; encourage respectful, constructive dialogue; and build capacity to tackle challenging and/or controversial issues.
Eli Cohn-Postell and Kara Wilson of Project Shema, a training and support organization focused on addressing contemporary antisemitism, will lead a special 90-minute presentation and discussion at the Library on antisemitism and understanding Jewish identity.
This event — which features a moderated presentation and Q&A — provides an accessible but powerful introduction to the historical and modern realities of antisemitism, with an emphasis on its evolving expression in contemporary culture and politics.
By creating space for collective reflection and inquiry, the evening aims to foster a shared vocabulary and a common starting point for deeper community dialogue.
This event is part of the Library’s Common Ground Initiative, designed to break through stereotypes and provide a nuanced view that will lead to more productive conversations and greater understanding. The aim of the Common Ground Initiative is to host positive, productive conversations on how we work together to move forward as a civil society; encourage respectful, constructive dialogue; and build capacity to tackle challenging and/or controversial issues.
Please note: This event will not be livestreamed or recorded. Your only opportunity to experience the event is by attending.
Understanding Jewish Identity and Antisemitism is sponsored by Jon and Bobbi Roth. This program is presented in partnership with the Westport Police Department to ensure the safety and well-being of all attendees.
To gain a better understanding of the far-reaching effects and impact of antisemitism on all of us, to strengthen allyship for and within the Jewish community, and to gain a greater appreciation of different lived experiences.
Understanding Jewish Identity and Antisemitism is a thoughtfully designed, educational experience that reflects the Library’s deep commitment to building a more inclusive, informed, and empathetic Westport. It serves as a signature program within the Common Ground Initiative — a civic engagement platform that addresses polarizing and complex issues through facilitated dialogue, evidence-based learning, and intentional community connection.
The goal of this event is to increase awareness, promote empathy, and encourage dialogue. We hope all attendees will come away from the evening with a more nuanced understanding of the challenges faced by the Jewish community and a stronger sense of community and connection to other attendees through shared learning experiences. We also hope you will feel empowered to participate in ongoing community efforts that promote equity and inclusivity and that counteract prejudice.
Everyone is welcome, including Westport residents and their neighbors, parents and families, clergy members, civic club members, community volunteers, and anyone who wants to learn more about antisemitism in an open, nurturing, and welcoming environment.
Eli Cohn-Postell and Kara Wilson are senior facilitators from Project Shema. Eli is the vice president for research and innovation at Project Shema and Kara is the chief strategy officer. Both bring a rare blend of intellectual rigor, facilitation mastery, and emotional sensitivity — qualities essential for creating a learning environment that is both challenging and affirming. Their expertise ensures that participants engage deeply with the material, fostering meaningful growth and understanding.
Project Shema is a training and support organization working toward a future in which collective Jewish inclusion and safety are ensured inside healthy pluralistic institutions and societies.
Built by progressive Jews, Project Shema helps folks understand Jewish identity, lived experiences, and trauma. Their depolarizing and nuanced approach strengthens allyship for and within the Jewish community, nurtures empathy for all, and honors diverse perspectives.
From Project Shema: “The word ‘shema’ comes from the Hebrew word ‘to hear,’ and it’s this concept that guides everything we do. Listening with curiosity and compassion is at the center of our relational engagement approach. We are a team with diverse identities who have invested our lives in uplifting vulnerable communities. Our goal is to help others understand or community’s diverse stories, identities, and lived experiences.”
Civil Discourse
Jewish American Heritage Month
As part of The Westport Library's Common Ground Initiative, we welcome business executive, government official, academic, and author Fred Hochberg in conversation with Westporter Steve Parrish for a discussion of global trade policy, including President Trump’s tariff strategy, and other current events.
During a career that has spanned almost 50 years, Fred Hochberg has served as: Chairman and CEO of the Export Import Bank of the United States during the Obama Administration; Acting Administrator of the Small Business Administration during the Clinton Administration; Dean of the Milano School of International Affairs, Management and Urban Policy at The New School University; and President and Chief Operating Officer of the Lillian Vernon Corporation. Fred also is the author of Trade is Not a Four Letter Word, published by Simon & Schuster and described as “a rousing well-argued defense of global trade in a time of isolationist entrenchment."
Steve Parrish is the retired Senior Vice President of Global Corporate Affairs at Altria Group, Inc. and the founder of Steve Parrish Consulting Group, LLC. Additionally, Parrish is the co-chair of the Library’s Common Ground Initiative.
The Common Ground Initiative is The Westport Library’s forum for public discourse on topical issues of importance to the community. The goals of the Initiative are to: host a positive, productive conversation on how we work together to move forward as a civil society; encourage respectful, constructive dialogue; and build capacity to tackle challenging and/or controversial issues.
Civil Discourse
Tariffs: Economic Impacts on Global Trade & Local Economies
Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center
Changing the world is difficult — but attainable through the choices we make every day. Join Michael Brownstein, Alex Madva, and Daniel Kelly, the authors of Somebody Should Do Something, as they paint a picture of how social change happens, one choice at a time. Alongside moderator Sharon Suchotliff, principal at ZS Consultants and a member of the Library's Common Ground Initiative, this panel will delve into a novel and scientific approach to creating transformative social change — and the surprising ways that each of us can help make a real difference.
Copies of Somebody Should Do Something will be available for purchase at this event.
Crucial issues like climate change, racism, and poverty, are structural. They emerge from our collective practices: laws, economies, history, culture, norms, and built environments. The dilemma is that there is no way to make structural change without individual people making different — more structure-facing — decisions. In Somebody Should Do Something, Michael Brownstein, Alex Madva, and Daniel Kelly show us how we can connect our personal choices to structural change and why individual choices matter, though not in the way people usually think. Taking inspiration from the writer Bill McKibben, they stress how one “important thing an individual can do is be somewhat less of an individual.”
Organized into three main sections, the book first diagnoses the problem of “either/or” thinking about social change, which stems from the false choice of making better personal choices or changing the system. The narrative then offers a different way to think about social change, anchored in a new picture of human nature emerging across the social sciences. Finally, the authors explore ways of putting this picture into practice. Neither a how-to manual nor an activist’s guide, Somebody Should Do Something pairs stories and science (plus some jokes) to help readers recognize their own power, turning resignation about climate change and racial injustice into actions that transform the world.
Michael Brownstein is professor and chair of philosophy at John Jay College and professor of philosophy at The Graduate Center, CUNY. He is the author of The Implicit Mind.
Alex Madva is professor of philosophy, director of the California Center for Ethics and Policy, and co-director of the Digital Humanities Consortium at Cal Poly Pomona. He is a co-editor of An Introduction to Implicit Bias and The Movement for Black Lives.
Daniel Kelly is professor of philosophy at Purdue University. He is the author of Yuck! The Nature and Moral Significance of Disgust (MIT Press).
The Common Ground Initiative is The Westport Library’s forum for public discourse on topical issues of importance to the community. The goals of the Initiative are to: host a positive, productive conversation on how we work together to move forward as a civil society; encourage respectful, constructive dialogue; and build capacity to tackle challenging and/or controversial issues.
Former Special Master of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Ken Feinberg will be The Westport Library’s guest for its latest Common Ground Initiative conversation, sharing his experience and expertise in bringing people together to analyze, understand, and resolve complex disputes.
Feinberg will be in discussion with moderator Steve Parrish.
The event will be held Tuesday, October 15, at 7 pm in the Library’s Trefz Forum. Registration is free and strongly encouraged.
The Common Ground Initiative is The Westport Library’s forum for public discourse on topical issues of importance to the community. The aim of the initiative is to host a positive, productive conversation on how we work together to move forward as a civil society; encourage respectful, constructive dialogue; and build capacity to tackle challenging and/or controversial issues. The program planning for the initiative is led by The Westport Library in conjunction with community leaders representing a wide array of constituents and ideological standpoints.
Previous Common Ground guests include former Missouri Senator Roy Blount and Pfizer Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Sally Susman.
Tuesday night’s event is designed to provide insight into conflict resolution that attendees can apply to their professional or personal lives and to serve as an opportunity to learn from an expert in the field who has successfully mediated some of the most challenging disputes in modern American history. It will focus on techniques for fostering civil discourse and conflict resolution.
During more than 40 years of public service, Feinberg has established himself as the nation’s leading expert in bringing conflicting parties together to reach acceptable resolution of their complex disagreements. That work includes his appointment with the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, where he served for 33 months. Feinberg wrote about the experience in his best-selling book What is Life Worth?, which was the basis for the 2005 movie Worth, starring Michael Keaton.
Feinberg currently serves as the court-appointed mediator in the Imerys/Cyprus talc bankruptcy in Delaware and was formerly the court-appointed mediator in the Hess-Honx asbestos bankruptcy in Texas. In addition to his work with the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, Feinberg has served in a variety of public compensation and related funding programs over the past 25 years, was appointed by the Obama Administration to oversee compensation of victims of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and was the mediator in the successful effort to return an original Chagall painting from the Museum of Modern Art in New York City to its original family owners in Europe.
Parrish is the founder of Steve Parrish Consulting Group, LLC, which specializes in crisis management, corporate social responsibility, public affairs, and communications for senior executives of corporations, law firms, and nonprofit organizations. Previously, Parrish was senior vice president, corporate affairs, of Altria Group, Inc., and served as secretary of the Public Affairs and Social Responsibility Committee of the board of directors of Altria Group, Inc.
Parrish is a member of the board of directors of Orchestra Lumos. He also is a board member emeritus and past board chair of Safe Horizon, an internationally recognized leader in the field of victim assistance, as well as a board member emeritus of Carleton College.
