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How can we resist this urge to avoid political topics with others, the exploration of which is so important to the well-functioning of our democratic society?  Here are seven tips for exploring these topics through dialogue rather than partisan debate.

Dialogue can function as a powerful pedagogical mechanism in a classroom.  Dialogue invites students into the educational process as active protagonists who are learning how to engage the world in which they live in ways meaningful to them rather than passive recipients of the information that someone else provides. The Dialogue Zone welcomes collaboration with instructors in thinking about how they might incorporate dialogue into their classrooms.

Our first series of conversations in the Dialogue Zone began as a sequel to an Inclusive Excellence Academy workshop held during the fall of 2019. The staff at the Dialogue Zone thought that creating a space for folks to reflect further on the issue would be a useful strategy to apply this concept to other areas of the life of the University. The idea was to inquire freely into the topic through a dialogical framework in which participants could revise and share their own ideas, experiences, and perspectives. Although in dialogue a path to action is not necessary, what we found with this series is that action might come as a seamless and natural subsequent step.

Dialogue can be a valuable part of a larger process of collective action.  Through dialogue, participants can build mutual understanding before, during, or after specific steps are taken.  In such cases, dialogue can infuse a line of action on the part of a group or organization with the potential for individual and collective learning.  Organizational units at UD might look to the Dialogue Zone to serve as a partner as they think about their plans for action and improvement. Facilitators can assist in developing regular spaces for collective reflection, separate from decision-making and implementation but fundamentally tied to these as elements of a larger process of strategic action.

Dialogue is an ambiguous term, one for which people have many different meanings.  As the Dialogue Zone defines it, dialogue is “a communicative process in which people with different perspectives seek understanding.” To be in dialogue means that participants are not only engaging each other in light of their different views, but they are also striving to achieve a degree of mutual understanding.  However, dialogue does not always go smoothly, nor is it always easy.

The Dialogue Zone had a successful celebration of its launch during the week of September 23 to 27.  As the initiative moves forward and thoughts turn towards the programming that will take place in the space over the remainder of the semester, the power of dialogue to build understanding across diverse viewpoints is becoming increasingly evident.  

This week, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, a professor of History and International Relations and the founding director of The Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University, visited the University of Dayton as the 2019 Inclusive Excellence Scholar.  A racist, he argued, is anyone who espouses ideas that assume the superiority or inferiority of one racial group over others or supports policies that create inequities among racial groups through their action or inaction.  Ultimately, racist policies must change if a more equitable society is to develop.  To provide a space for dialogue about these compelling ideas, the Dialogue Zone is hosting two sessions next week for people to come together and continue to examine Dr. Kendi’s arguments.

The Dialogue Zone will be celebrating its launch during the week of September 23-27.  During this week, we will be hosting a number of events to showcase the diverse programs that the space can accommodate.  All programs will be taking place in the Dialogue Zone on the first floor of Roesch Library, Room 107.

The first cohort of facilitators for the Dialogue Zone met this week to explore opportunities for faculty, staff, and students to engage each other on key topics affecting campus.  Twenty-six people from various offices and departments across the University spent a morning together, reviewing key skills, principles, and approaches for facilitating dialogue.

After several years of envisioning the possibilities, the Dialogue Zone is opening its doors during the Fall 2019 term.  At a time when incivility, polarization, violence, distrust, and alienation are reflected in public discourse in potentially alarming ways, the Dialogue Zone represents an alternative way of engaging people in one’s community with different views and perspectives that resists approaching other people as opponents or obstacles to be overcome.  Whereas debate involves contending with another with a win-lose orientation, dialogue seeks mutual understanding.  However, building understanding through dialogue is not an easy process.