Raihan Alam Promotes Civil Discourse

After a Lehigh career focused on research with his professors, Raihan Alam ’23 will pursue a doctorate where he will examine civility, incivility and polarization in public discourse.

An interest in public discourse is how Alam left his mark on Lehigh. He co-founded the Douglass Dialogues, a student club that encourages civil discourse about social, cultural and political topics. A psychology and political science double major, the San Francisco native says the club was founded on the belief that the right structure could encourage such conversations.

“The prevailing consensus today that you often see in The New York Times is that [those in] our generation are ‘snowflakes’ who are unable to have these conversations,” Alam explains. He and the club’s vice president, electrical engineering major Declan Coster ’23, thought otherwise. “We decided to make a structure where we have some sort of community guidelines, and we democratically talk about these issues and develop trust.”

The club, which began virtually in 2020 during the pandemic, has flourished on campus in bi-weekly sessions that draw 20 to 30 students. Events featuring panels and guest speakers, such as the one in spring 2023 featuring noted linguist and social critic Noam Chomsky, have drawn more than 100 participants. It will continue after Alam graduates.

A first-generation college student, Alam says he chose Lehigh because of the many opportunities it offers students, such as the Eckardt Scholars Honors Program in the College of Arts and Sciences. He has taken advantage of the program’s emphasis on deep intellectual work and mentorship.

Alam says he was able to plunge into research as a first-year student because, as an Eckardt Scholar, he was exempt from distribution requirements and free to explore his interests.

“I was able to hit the ground running and do all the research and activities I’ve been able to do,” he says.

His multiple research projects have received institutional funding, including several Strohl Undergraduate Research Grants and a College of Arts and Sciences Research Grant.

In one project, he worked with Psychology Department Chair Michael Gill, studying the way people perceive and react to opposing or inflammatory viewpoints on Twitter. Study participants receiving information about a person’s background, such as whether they grew up in a community or a church that stressed conservative values, were less likely to lash out at that individual’s inflammatory message.

“It implies that when you understand where someone’s coming from, you’re less likely to engage in uncivil dialogue with them,” Alam states. The research was published in summer 2022 in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.