Projects / University of Nebraska at Omaha,
Breaking Silence: Difficult Dialogues at the University of Nebraska at Omaha
PIs: Dr. Nora Bacan, associate professor, UNO Department of English; Dr. Shereen Bingham, professor, UNO School of Communication; Dr. Hollis Glaser, Associate Professor, School of Communication.
This two-year project, designed to create opportunities for open, productive dialogues on issues of religion, sexuality and race, aims to change the campus culture by integrating dialogue theory and practice into the core curriculum and co-curricular activities of the university. Another goal is to encourage and support difficult dialogues in the community. This project is designed to challenge the culture of silence on campus and in the community. The project focuses on three topics. The first, race, is salient because of longstanding black-white tensions but is especially urgent today in light of the recent influx of Latinos, Asians and Africans into the region. The second and third topics, religion and sexuality, are intertwined, particularly as they affect public decision-making concerning sexuality.
The first year's project activities will introduce the knowledge and skills needed for dialogue about sensitive and controversial issues to faculty and staff. This will be done through a dialogue workshop conducted with the guidance of the Public Dialogue Consortium, and the development of specific plans for infusing dialogue into the curriculum and co-curricular activities. The second year's activities will provide continuing support to core faculty and staff, widen the circle to include student leaders, and extend the work into the community.
The project will institutionalize a process by which faculty, staff and students learn to talk with one another about difficult issues of race, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation in a climate of active inquiry and exploration, openness to difference, and mutual respect.