Dialogue & Deliberation Across Differences

This article from the University of Michigan's Center for Research on Learning and Teaching makes the case for the importance of preparing students for productive conversations across differences and disagreements. It also provides principles and strategies for putting that into practice.

In this episode of the When We Disagree podcast, Professor Michael Lee talks with UVA’s Rachel Wahl about her interviews with college students after a one-on-one dialogue session with a peer who disagreed with them. She focuses on a particular interview that “reveal(s) both the promise and heartbreak of real engagement.”

The Constructive Dialogue Institute is a non-profit organization that creates educational resources for communicating across differences in response to growing political polarization, including its online student program Perspectives, instructor webinars, and classroom activity guides, one of which I share here.

This classroom activity guide by Janice McMillan and the Collaborative Discussion Project includes step-by-step instructions, a diverse set of real-world scenarios, and thoughtful reflection questions that encourage students to pay attention to deep-rooted power imbalances in dialogue and deliberation.

This article from the University of Michigan's teaching center shares how two U-M faculty members developed innovative learning experiences to guide students as they develop skills for productive and respectful discussion across differences. 

In this episode of the When We Disagree podcast, Professor Michael Lee interviews Martin Carcasson, the director of the Center for Public Deliberation at Colorado State University, about the differences (and similarities) between dialogue, deliberation and debate.

The Deliberation Across the Curriculum program supports faculty incorporating deliberation around important, sometimes divisive issues into their courses—from STEM to the Arts. In this piece, Kathleen Wessel reflects on the semester she integrated deliberation into Critical Writing for Dance.