DDNRC 2025 Conference
The Weight of Words: Navigating the Evolving Role of Dialogue During Polarized Times
Come join us for our 2025 conference, The Weight of Words: Navigating the Evolving Role of Dialogue During Polarized Times from Monday June 30th- Wednesday July 2nd!
Hosted by Washington University in St. Louis located in St. Louis, Missouri!
Arriving in St. Louis early? Check out our registration page to sign up for our pre-conference workshop!
Using Dialogue in Professional Spaces:
Join this interactive pre-conference workshop designed to strengthen your dialogue skills and advance transformative change in higher education. Tailored for professionals committed to justice, equity, and sustainability, this session equips you with practical tools to navigate challenging conversations, foster collaboration, and create inclusive spaces. Together, we’ll explore how dialogue can be a powerful catalyst for meaningful institutional and societal impact.
Know Before You Go!
During the afternoon of May 16th, 2025, an intense tornado swept through St. Louis and the Greater St. Louis area, causing devastating damage to impacted communities.
Please consider contributing to storm relief funds or signing up for volunteer service hours in St. Louis as the area navigates their next steps.
Help support our lovely host city and the incredible St. Louis community! Follow the link below to see how you can help.
St. Louis has a fascinating history that contains both moments of triumph and shame.
While attending our conference, please be mindful of the historical significance of this land and the events that unfolded through St. Louis’ establishment. Check out the resources below for more information.
Lodging
For discounted lodging rates and an easy walk to DDNRC conference events, please consider booking a room at Washington University’s historic Charles F. Knight Executive Education and Conference Center. The Knight Center is located on the university’s Danforth Campus and is a fifteen-minute walk from St. Louis’ Forest Park.
Considering extending your stay? Call the Knight Center to receive additional discounted rates for evenings following the conclusion of the conference.
Driving or renting a car? On-campus parking rates are $9 a day. Our team at WashU has preordered validation and parking codes for all conference attendees, check back in for more information!
Interested in staying in one of Washington University’s residence halls? Follow the instructions below for summer housing, then click the link above to book your room!
Follow the link above for access to the WashU summer housing applications.
Click the “Log-In” option located in the webpage’s right corner along the gray banner.
Register using your preferred email.
After you register for the housing website, follow this link to sign up for DDNRC housing. This can also be found in the menu (three bars stacked on the left corner of the gray banner).
Meet our conference keynote speaker, Ernest Owens!
The DDNRC is honored to announce Ernest Owens as our 2025 conference keynote speaker!
Ernest Owens is an award-winning journalist and CEO of Ernest Media Empire, LLC. He is the Political Writer at Large for Philadelphia Magazine, President of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists, and Regional Vice President of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Mid-Atlantic Chapter).
As an openly Black gay journalist, Owens is known for speaking openly about intersectional issues in society regarding race, LGBTQIA communities, and pop culture.
Want to learn more about Ernest? Check out his website: https://ernestowens.com/
Notes on '“The Weight of Words”
This year’s 2025 DDNRC conference theme is The Weight of Words: Navigating the Evolving Role of Dialogue in Polarized Times
We are living in an age of increasing polarization and anger in our public discourse often reinforces hostile modes of interaction with people who hold different viewpoints. This polarization has impacted our ability to work within and between communities. Dialogues help deepen understanding of personal, group and intergroup relationship issues. Many people across the nation and world are wrestling with questions about how to engage with others who do not share the same values and/or identities and feel helpless around authentic engagement when we can’t even agree on basic facts for an informed dialogue. Further, many wrestle with how we can support respectful, transformative dialogue in face-to-face meetings, online contexts, and in physical and virtual classrooms.
