Colleges and faculty are pushing new classroom practices to manage polarized discussion and prepare students for civic life. Panels and practitioners are promoting deliberative dialogue frameworks to integrate contentious topics into coursework while preserving civil inquiry and critical thinking. The approach outlines structured formats and faculty facilitation techniques to guide high-stakes conversations. At the same time, prominent AI critics and pioneers — including Geoffrey Hinton — have warned of sizable labor-market disruption, and Harvard polling shows Gen Z sees AI as a threat to jobs. Educators are facing simultaneous pressure to incorporate AI literacy into curricula while addressing student anxiety about future careers. Key actors: higher-education pedagogy experts, Harvard Institute of Politics, AI researchers.