As Alexandra Delano prepared to moderate a civic discussion group for Providence College students ahead of the presidential election, some people quipped: “Good job,” and “That’s brave.”
They’ll be nervous about the blue and red flyer: “There’s an election in two weeks? Let’s talk about it!” It was sponsored by the university’s Dialogue, Inclusion, and Democracy Lab, where Delano is a student researcher.
As about 30 students entered the large lecture hall in Moore Hall, which houses the university’s Center for Inclusive Excellence, Delano greeted them with a slideshow explaining the afternoon’s activities. The audience was divided into four groups, each assigned questions on topics such as the role of social media in politics and how to manage the emotions that may arise after the election. Participants were able to move from table to table and discuss their questions with other members of each group.
Delano also had the entire group create a community agreement, a list of rules everyone must follow to remain respectful. Some of the rules included using the word “I” instead of “we,” taking what you learned out of the room, but not sharing other people’s personal information.
At the end of his introductory remarks, Delano had one last thing to say before the group began, saying, “I might be nervous, but it’s okay,” and decided to leave the group. “Let’s be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Let’s get through this together.”
“Constructive dialogue” has become a buzzword in higher education in recent years, especially since protests against the Israel-Hamas war have rocked campuses across the United States. Universities seem hell-bent on hosting speaker sessions, organizing events with experts, and getting students talking to each other rather than yelling at them. Many have created special offices and programs in hopes of teaching students how to talk to people with whom they disagree.
Now, that programming is being put to the test as universities prepare for the potential disruption this week’s presidential election will bring. Experts say events like the one Delano hosted are a way to encourage students to have meaningful conversations and listen despite differences of opinion.
It’s not yet clear how much of a difference a few training sessions and discussion events will make, but organizers hope they will prepare students to enter an increasingly polarized world.
What does a good dialogue look like?
With increasing partisanship, universities have gradually stepped up efforts to foster civil dialogue in recent years. But after the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East, new movements are occurring in higher education October 7, 2023with campus protests — Michael Murray, president and CEO of the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation, which funds several campus dialogue projects, said university administrators cannot provide a quality education in a chaotic environment. He says he is aware of this. For students to succeed in and out of the classroom, he says, they need stability and ways to deal with stressful situations.
Many universities are turning to nonprofit organizations like Interfaith America and Braver Angels for help. We provide toolkits, strategies, and training to help administrators grow their programs. We may also provide universities with resources on best practices in constructive dialogue or suggest certain types of events, such as roundtable strategies in Providence.
For example, the Institute for Constructive Dialogue offers a series of videos and online lessons that students can work through at their own pace, training for faculty, and a yearlong program to help campus administrators learn more about constructive dialogue. Masu. Last year, the organization worked with 30 universities. This year, that number has increased to 122 campuses, said Mirien Duong, the institute’s senior director of research.
Previously, encouraging productive dialogue “didn’t feel urgent,” Duong says. “People understood that it was an important skill to have. They understood that the national discourse was deteriorating and it was showing up on college campuses, but , we felt there were always more important things than this large investment.”
Murray said some universities are now looking at constructive dialogue as a way to help students find jobs after graduation. Particularly given the turmoil that erupted last year, companies will seek out students with problem-solving and conversational skills, he says. Murray points to Spring Arbor University, a small private Methodist university in Michigan, which has developed a certification program through constructive dialogue.
Employers “report that they’re looking for graduates with these skills in new hires,” Murray says. “They know how to get along with people they don’t agree with.”
But Nicholas Longo, co-director of Providence’s DID Lab, says encouraging students to practice these skills outside of the classroom and campus events can be difficult. While classrooms and workshops are often safe spaces, students need to demonstrate their skills in conversations with friends, on social media, in the workplace, and more, Longo said.
Posey Millett, a fourth-year student at Dartmouth College, has found that students primarily converse about politics in structured settings, such as speaker events. She says she rarely talks about politics over lunch or in casual conversations with friends.
Mr. Millet is a member of the Dartmouth Dialogue Project. The program, launched by the university earlier this year, offers workshops and uses online materials from the Constructive Dialogue Institute to help students learn to have productive conversations. Creating a safe space for students to learn conversational skills and talk about sensitive topics can help students navigate daily challenges, Millett says. They can use these strategies to talk about mental health and conflicts between friends, she says.
“I think the way you learn how to express yourself and your opinions confidently and respectfully will help you in many aspects of life,” she says.
Many universities have also begun offering workshops for faculty so they can learn models for constructive dialogue in the classroom, Longo said. Teachers participate in simulation exercises so they can be prepared if something happens during the school year, he said. Through DID Lab, Longo also brings together a group of teachers each month to discuss bringing non-professional conversations into the classroom.
“If you’re a chemist or a biology professor, you have expertise,” Longo says. change. “
How effective is it?
Those in the field of civil dialogue are still looking for ways to measure how successful these programs are.
At Dartmouth, Dialogue Project staff conducts individual evaluations of each event’s impact on students, said Christy Clemens, the program’s executive director. The goal is for students to have fewer so-called things. high conflict “Let’s work together and work on each other in a more productive way,” Clemens said. The group also aims to reduce cancel culture on campus, such as students attacking each other online.
But to do that, students need to practice civil discourse skills and experience them on a daily basis, says Elizabeth Smith, dean of Dartmouth’s College of Arts and Sciences.
“The key is to think about how it becomes part of the culture,” Smith says. Participating in civic dialogue “should feel natural. It’s not like, ‘Oh my gosh, I have one more thing to do.’ It’s a natural part of our community life here at Dartmouth.” It should become a part of it.”
Delano is also working on ways to measure the impact of DID Lab. Anecdotally, she said she has heard from students after certain events that they feel they can apply what they learned later, which is encouraging. Still, she says it can be difficult to convince students to engage and take it seriously when many don’t even know what constructive dialogue means.
“Many people seem to be averse to the idea of civil discussion in many ways,” she says. ”
Timothy Shafer, director of the SNF Ithaca Initiative, a civil dialogue program at the University of Delaware, said it’s especially difficult to engage students who are reluctant to participate in dialogue sessions.
Some universities have found ways to build incentives to learn about dialogue. At Dartmouth, students can receive wellness credits for participating in campus dialogue workshops. Many Providence College faculty offered extra credit to students for participating in DID Lab election events.
Still, universities need to embed those skills into daily life on campus so student athletes and business school students, for example, can benefit, Schaefer said. Dialogue skills can be incorporated through orientation programs and residency, he suggests. Resident advisors can host fun events like pumpkin carvings, but they should also be responsible for teaching new students how to have constructive conversations, Shafer says.
Delano, a biology student aiming to become a pediatric oncologist, plans to use the skills she learned at DID Lab to connect with patients who don’t share her background or opinions. Last year, she worked to encourage science students to participate in the DID Lab. She helped incorporate dialogue skills into the physics course curriculum and created a “DID wall” in the science building. This wall asks students insightful questions such as, “How can I be a better ally to the LGBTQ community?” Students were encouraged to leave their answers on the wall as a way to encourage conversation.
“Students may not have the skills to have these difficult conversations themselves, but the moment they sit down at one of our events or have a conversation with another student, they realize it’s not rocket science. I get it,” Delano said. Say. “It’s even more important to be open to different perspectives and find ways to be the best version of ourselves in that moment based on community consensus.”
For Delano, students are often most effective when they involve their peers. Once she realized how tense the room could be during election events, she said it felt more relaxed.
Once the students began the discussion, she observed them discussing topics such as how to detect when an image was generated by artificial intelligence. Delano said the students were respectful and were able to talk through their differences.
Many students left feeling calm about the election, she added. The event helped people realize how important it is to lean on each other, regardless of the outcome or how they feel about it, Delano said.
“It’s okay not to have all the answers right in front of you,” Delano says. “Knowing that there are people in your corner, even if you don’t believe in the same things as you politically, helps you understand that there are still people who support you. We have common values.”
