Skip To Content Skip To Menu Skip To Footer
+ Share

Dialogues Across Differences

Community of Practice

Faculty Luncheons and Workshops

Dialogues Across Courses ⏐ Faculty Summer Workshop

May 18th   12:00 - 3:30 pm   C.T.L.S. space, located in the basement of the library. 

Dialogues Across Differences is hosting a workshop for faculty interested in implementing or further developing dialogues into their courses. The event will be hosted in the Center for Teaching, Learning, & Scholarshipon May 18th, from 12:00 to 3:30 pm including lunch. Faculty who participate will be given a $200 stipend for participation. The day will include sessions on building relationships, dealing with controversial texts, and case studies for facilitating classroom discussions. 

RSVP HERE by May 11th. 

For questions, contact Ming Robinson, Dialogist in Residence.

Session Descirptions:

Building Relationships with Dialogue

Facilitators: Laura Megivern, Director of Global and National Partnerships and Programs and Co-Director of Dialogues Across Differences & Ming Robinson, Dialogist in Residence and Co-Director of Dialogues Across Differences.

Starting at 12:00, lunch will be offered and participants will have a chance to connect with one another. Laura Megivern and Ming Robinson will lead a session to review what dialogue is, dialogue tools such as “Community Agreements”, and practice “Connect Before Content”. Community agreements are created as a class to set the classroom expectations. Connect Before Content is a exercise that emphasize the importance of trust and relationship building. These low-stakes questions can be fun, personal, and sometimes connected to the content of the class. It’s a tool that allows students to feel more comfortable to share their ideas and questions, and generally is a good practice to build trust and understanding with those in the room.  
Who Cares? Designing Normative Case Studies to Facilitate Classroom Discussion

Facilitator: Amy McKiernan, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Director, Ethics  Across Campus & the Curriculum 

In this session, we briefly will: (1) distinguish between dialogue, debate, and discussion as pedagogical approaches to classroom engagement and (2) consider the important distinction between “I understand” and “I agree.” Then, we will spend most of the session considering the value of designing case studies for facilitating classroom discussion that encourages critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and empathetic listening. We will consider how to build normative cases that feature diverse stakeholders, complicated interpersonal dynamics, and morally significant disagreements. We will practice by working through a sample normative case together. Note: This session is for all interested Dickinson faculty with or without a background in DxD training. 
Difficult Content, Discomfort, and Dialogue

Facilitators: Katie Schweighofer, Director, Women's & Gender Resource Center & John  Katunich, Director of the Writing Program  

Today’s classrooms inevitably will deal with difficult topics, from political conflict and sexual assault to legacies of racism and colonialism. How do we deal with these topics when they arise, scheduled or unscheduled, in ways that both ensure dignitary safety and allow for intellectual risk-taking? How do we approach teaching texts with offensive language, emotional implications, and/or themes of violence, abuse, or hatred?  This session talks about the benefits and limitations of various strategies for managing difficult content, including creating robust community guidelines, providing content warnings, and offensive language management policies.  
Networking Session & Peer Support 

During this session, participants will work independently or with colleagues on their syllabus, course or assignment ideas. Participants will think through how to implement dialogue into their courses or other programs and have the opportunity to provide and receive feedback from others. 

Faculty Learning Community

The Dialogues Across Difference team hosts an annual faculty learning community (FLC) to train faculty on Best Practices for Facilitating Dialogues Across Differences in the Classroom. So far, three iterations of this FLC have taken place.

Past Learning

FLC 1 - Fall 2022:

  • 21 faculty members and administrators participated, all from diverse and different departments on campus
    • Disciplines: Africana Studies, Anthropology, Creative Writing, Economics, English, Environmental Science, French, History, International Business & Management, Middle Eastern Studies, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Russian, Sociology, Spanish
    • Departments: Center for Global Study & Engagement, Quantitative Reasoning Center 
  • 12 follow-on grants awarded to the participants to revise or create courses with dialogue as part of the course - courses range from first-year seminars, to a senior seminar in environmental science, to courses about banning books, and many more! These courses will begin to be offered in Fall 2023

FLC 2 - Summer 2023:

  • 20 faculty members and administrators participated
    • Disciplines: Biology, Economics, Educational Studies, Environmental Science, History, Middle Eastern Studies, Music, Philosophy, Psychology, Religion, Sociology, Spanish, Theater & Dance, Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies 
    • Departments: Center for Civic Learning & Action, Experiential Learning
  • Follow-on grants will be awarded to participants to revise or create courses with dialogue as part of the course

FLC 3 - Summer 2024:

  • 19 faculty and staff members from a wide spectrum of disciplines participated in the most recent Faculty Learning Community 
    • Disciplines: Biology, Computer Science, East Asian Studies, Economics, Education Studies, English, Environmental Studies, Geosciences, German, Mathematics, Music, Philosophy, Religion, Sociology, Spanish & Portuguese, Theatre & Dance 
    • Departments: Center for the Future of Native Peoples 

Quotes from the Faculty Learning Community participants:

"You enabled us to create strong connections with each other, speak openly, and learn from one another. Bravo!"

"I truly enjoyed this Faculty Learning Community and benefitted a great deal. Thank you! I hope to apply the many insights learned form you all in creating an inclusive, supportive environment that promotes dialogue, mutual understanding, and an independent, inquisitive mindset among the students. I am excited by the possibility! Thank you all so much!"

"I did pick up on a few new strategies that I hope to employ to open further communication about difficult topics that allow students to grow by truly engaging with people who hold different perspectives. Ideally students will also walk away from these courses with a better understanding of themselves and how they have come to their values and perspectives on the world."

"I don't think I knew exactly what the FLC would be about. I expected it would be more narrowly focused on "Civil Dialogue." I found it included that especially early on, but also expanded to many other pedagogical approaches that will improve my teaching in every course... The exposure to other faculty members who care about teaching well was inspiring."