About Fuse
Welcome to Fuse, where we empower connections through conversations on polarizing topics. We hope to foster greater understanding, awareness, and community engagement in normal, everyday life.
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Originating as a college marketing project in 2021, a team of Missouri State University students designed the Fuse card activity, which gamifies challenging conversations. The student team also produced an accompanying podcast.
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Not long after that, Fuse was used as the foundation of a grant proposal and earned funding from the Department of Homeland Security’s Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3) to keep the program going.
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In June 2023, Fuse was restructured within Missouri State University’s Citizenship & Service-Learning office. In today's ever-changing society, open-mindedness and adaptability are essential. We believe that service-learning, combined with the Fuse program, can improve these crucial skills.
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Based in Springfield, Missouri, the heart of the Midwest, where social and political divides can often be intense. Fuse dives into divisive subjects, aiming not to add fuel to controversy but to unite people through informative and instructive discussions.
Fuse is a project operated by Missouri State University's office for Citizenship & Service-Learning. Learn more about "CASL" below:
Primary goals
Support productive conversations on difficult topics
Empower bystanders and reduce community vulnerability
Enhance digital literacy to prevent spread of misinformation
Counter the us-versus-them narrative to reduce bias
Take a look at what we've been working on.
Fuse is all about resources. We're working on more podcasts, more workshops, a toolkit, and new ways to use the card game to help you have better conversations about tough topics.
Podcast
Produced deep in the Midwest, the Fuse Podcast explores a variety of topics often seen as polarizing to many Americans. But rather than fanning any flames of controversy, the podcast seeks to inform, instruct, and engage in a way that unites, instead of divides.
Card game
Developed by a team of college students attempting to "gamify" having difficult conversations, the Fuse card activity is a series of prompts that get players to think about what they really believe - or think they believe - while challenging potential biases and increasing understanding.
Workshops
Fuse is currently building a collection of events and workshops designed to help people feel more empowered when having difficult conversations about polarizing topics. Keep checking back in with us as we continue to add digital resources.
Our
location
Missouri State University is located in Springfield, Missouri. Springfield is the hub city in a mid-sized metropolitan area, mixed with rural and nestled in the Ozark region of the lower Midwest. Surrounded by outdoor life, agriculture, and evangelical Christianity, the university has a commitment to public affairs and engagement in the community.
Partners
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