Changing Climates, Divided Landscapes:
Strategies for Engaging Difficult Dialogues in Higher Education
Keynote by Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum
2nd Biennial Difficult Dialogues in Higher Education Conference
October 24-25, 2016 | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Michigan Union, 530 South State Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
MONDAY, OCTOBER 24th
8:00 – 9:00AM Registration and Continental Breakfast
9:00 – 9:30AM Welcome and Opening Remarks
Tabbye Chavous, National Center for Institutional Diversity, University of Michigan
Pauline Strong, DDNRC Board Member, University of Texas, Austin
Kelly Maxwell, DDNRC Board Member, University of Michigan
Libby Roderick, DDNRC Board Member, University of Alaska, Anchorage
9:30 – 10:45AM Breakout Session One: Strategies for Engaging Difficult Dialogues in the Classroom
Start Talking: Proactively Engaging Difficult Dialogues in the Classroom
Libby Roderick, University of Alaska, Anchorage: Difficult Dialogues at UAA
What if you could give your faculty the tools to engage more productively in difficult dialogues in classrooms and increase student learning at the same time? Based on the internationally recognized field manual, Start Talking: A Handbook for Engaging Difficult Dialogues in Higher Education, this interactive session offers a host of field-tested strategies for intentionally introducing controversial topics in the college and university classroom.
Strategies and Models for Engaging Difficult Dialogues in the Classroom
Pauline Strong, University of Texas, Austin
This session will consider how Difficult Dialogues courses are incorporated into the core undergraduate curriculum at the University of Texas at Austin. Course topics, faculty, pedagogies, outcomes, and supporting public forums will be discussed.
Living Room Conversations Introduction and Simulation
Jessica Shryack and Tiffany Wilson-Worsley
Living Room Conversations provides a structured format for having conversations that are intended to transform distrust and discord into understanding — paving the way for collaborative solutions. The format involves two co-hosts assembling a group of people with different perspectives to have rich, meaningful conversation. Living Room Conversations is an open-source resource that provides topic ideas, questions, conversation ground rules and a format that lets everyone take turns speaking. The Living Room Conversations topic we will focus on for this session is called “Let’s Talk Race and Ethnicity.” We will review the session questions, present an overview of participant feedback so far, and conduct a conversation simulation.
10:45 – 11:00AM Break (Light Refreshments Available)
11:00 – 12:15PM Breakout Session Two: Strategies and Models for Engaging Difficult Dialogues
Exploring CommonGround: A Student-Centered Social Justice Education Program
‘Dolapo Adeniji, LaQwana Dockery, Laxmi Shastry, Maxwell Stein of CommonGround, Program on Intergroup Relations, University of Michigan
CommonGround is part of the Program on Intergroup Relations (IGR) and is a student-run social justice education program that organizes request-based workshops. Facilitated and coordinated by trained undergraduate and graduate students, these interactive workshops help promote social identity development and enhance group dynamics on campus.
In this session, we will provide an overview of the CommonGround program's history, goals, theoretical framework, and structure, specifically highlighting three aspects of CommonGround that are unique and effective: 1) a student-centered program, 2) preparing students to engage and reflect across differences 3) the format of short, introductory, one-time, peer-facilitated interactive workshops.
Strategies Developing and Sustaining Campus-wide Dialogue Education at the
University of Illinois, Chicago: UIC Dialogue Initiative
Charu Thakral and Philip Vasquez, University of Illinois at Chicago
The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) has one of the most diverse student bodies in the nation (U.S. News and World Report, 2013). With the campus’ commitment to diversity as a signature of the UIC education, dialogue educational opportunities were developed through a partnership between student affairs/academic affairs for students, staff, and faculty in order for them to benefit from the informal and interactional diversity within their working/learning environments. Dialogue efforts have included credit-bearing courses and co-curricular programs for students; workshops and/or trainings for staff, faculty, and administrators; and most recently, the launching of a campus-wide dialogue series initiated by the Provost. The presenters will share various practices employed in order to develop and sustain campus wide dialogue efforts. The discussion will include emerging strategies to sustain successful partnerships for dialogue directed by student affairs and academic affairs units working together.
Living Room Conversations Introduction and Simulation
Jessica Shryack and Tiffany Wilson-Worsley
Living Room Conversations provides a structured format for having conversations that are intended to transform distrust and discord into understanding — paving the way for collaborative solutions. The format involves two co-hosts assembling a group of people with different perspectives to have rich, meaningful conversation. Living Room Conversations is an open-source resource that provides topic ideas, questions, conversation ground rules and a format that lets everyone take turns speaking. The Living Room Conversations topic we will focus on for this session is called “Let’s Talk Race and Ethnicity.” We will review the session questions, present an overview of participant feedback so far, and conduct a conversation simulation.
12:15 – 1:15PM Lunch & Conversation Café
At your tables, discuss the following with your colleagues:
- What are the most difficult conversations on your campus and community?
- What are the most difficult silences?
1:15 – 2:30PM Plenary Session
A Gym for the Soul: Using Theatre and Drama to Engage in Difficult Dialogues on College Campuses
Callie McKee, Director, UMetc, University of Michigan
Victoria Johnson, Actor, UMetc, University of Michigan
Jessica Feathers, Actor, UMetc, University of Michigan
In this session, participants will learn how the U-M educational theatre company (UMetc) uses theatre and drama as a catalyst for conversations about identity, social justice and resolving conflict on the U-M campus. Participants will have the opportunity to view an original UMetc sketch on "Unpacking Identity" as UMetc Director Callie McKee and UMetc Student Actors discuss the creation and performance of the sketch. Participants will also learn and practice exercises and tools for engaging in dialogue using theatre and drama techniques with students.
2:30 – 2:45PM Break (Light Refreshments Available)
2:45 – 4:00PM Higher Education Addressing the Issue of Climate Change
The Most Difficult Silence: Talking About Climate Change on Campus
Libby Roderick, University of Alaska, Anchorage, moderator
Sara Soderstrom, University of Michigan
Praveen Loganathan, University of Michigan
Jeff Pituch, University of Michigan
Pauline Strong, University of Texas, Austin
The climate crisis, including ocean acidification, is arguably the most important and urgent issue facing the human community. Our response to the accelerating impacts of climactic and oceanic changes in the next few years may well determine the future of life on earth for thousands of years to come. In spite of championing science, critical thinking, and the spirited engagement of different perspectives as the basis for informed citizen participation in civic concerns, most institutions of higher education are notably lacking in dialogue on this critical issue. In this session, we’ll highlight a few efforts being made on university campuses and jointly discuss better ways to promote active engagement with this urgent – and extremely difficult – issue on our campuses.
4:00 – 5:30PM Rogel Ballroom - Keynote
Why Are All the Black Kids Still Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Campus Conversations about Race
Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, President Emerita, Spelman College
6:00 – 7:30PM Reception and Dinner(Conference Participants and Invited Guests)
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25th
8:00 – 9:00AM Continental Breakfast
9:15 – 10:30AM Plenary Session
A Conversation with Dr. Beverly Tatum
Tabbye Chavous, National Center for Institutional Diversity
10:30 – 10:45AM Break
10:45 – 12:00PM Breakout Session Three: Strategies and Models for Engaging Difficult Dialogues
Stop Talking: Indigenous Perspectives on Difficult Dialogues
Libby Roderick, University of Alaska, Anchorage
Over thousands of years, indigenous communities have evolved a multitude of approaches to successfully engage challenging issues. Supported by a Ford Foundation grant, the University of Alaska Anchorage developed a faculty development program designed to introduce non-Native faculty to traditional Alaska Native ways of teaching and learning and approaches to difficult dialogues. Based on the book Stop Talking: Indigenous Ways of Teaching and Learning and Difficult Dialogues in Higher Education, this session will explore some of those approaches and engage participants in discussions about key difficult dialogues between academic and indigenous communities. In these critical times for dialogue on the future of the earth and the global human community, come learn from the experts!
Program on Intergroup Relations and Michigan Community Scholars Program:
Institutional Models for Dialogue in the Classroom and Campus Community
Tahany Alsabahi, Vidhya Aravind, Michelle Huang, Kelly Maxwell, and Monita Thompson, The Program on Intergroup Relations
Sydney Bartell, Amanda Champagne, Sharae Franklin, Kendall Poindexter, David Schoem, and Wendy Woods, Michigan Community Scholars Program
This session will highlight two distinct but complementary programs and approaches at the University of Michigan for engaging students in difficult dialogue on campus. The Program on Intergroup Relations hosts formal course-based (and co-curricular) intergroup dialogues, and the Michigan Community Scholars Program is a living learning program which attempts to create a dialogic community through courses, programs, and service projects that students embrace in their everyday lives on a 24/7 basis. After short presentations by staff in each of the programs, students from the two programs will participate in a fishbowl to explore the impact, best practices and challenges of these programs. Finally, participants will be invited to share their dialogic approaches and programs and consider how they might adapt these models for their own campus practices.
Living Room Conversations Debrief and Questions
Jessica Shryack and Tiffany Wilson-Worsley
In this third session of Living Room Conversations, we will give a very brief overview of Living Room Conversations for all participants, and then provide an opportunity for participants in Session 1 or 2 to debrief and ask follow-up questions. Living Room Conversations provides a structured format for having conversations that are intended to transform distrust and discord into understanding — paving the way for collaborative solutions. The Living Room Conversations topic we focused on in Sessions 1 and 2 is called “Let’s Talk Race and Ethnicity.” Anyone is welcome at this session.
12:00 – 1:30PM Lunch
Toxic Friday: Resources for Addressing Faculty-to-Faculty Bullying in Higher Education
Libby Roderick, University of Alaska, Anchorage
Most Difficult Dialogues work on university campuses addresses issues related to students. However, when working with faculty across the country on Difficult Dialogues projects, the Director of the Difficult Dialogues Initiative at the University of Alaska Anchorage was routinely approached by faculty for help with an even tougher topic: how to address toxic behavior by colleagues within academic departments. In response, UAA developed Toxic Friday —a book and online video—which uses interactive theater to help faculty and academic leaders identify, discuss, and implement solutions that create lasting change. During this lunch session, we’ll view the video and briefly explore ways to engage this issue on our campuses.
1:30 – 2:00PM Closing Session
Jyotsna Vanapalli, DDNRC, Conference Highlights
Kelly Maxwell, University of Michigan, Closing Remarks
Libby Roderick, University of Alaska, Anchorage Closing Song