Blogs

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.