Engaging in Challenging Conversations in Higher Ed

Engaging in Challenging Conversations: A Higher Education Webinar

Date: Monday, August 5, 2024

Time: 1:30 - 3 pm Eastern, 10:30 am - 12 pm Pacific

Cost: $45*

Are you losing sleep over the upcoming conversations about challenging issues on your campus this fall?

Do you want to be able to engage students in thoughtful, intentional conversations about events and issues impacting our world in your classroom or with your student group?

In today's increasingly polarized environment, educators and administrators are deeply concerned and facing significant challenges in navigating the complex and often contentious issues that arise on campuses. The urgent need for dialogue and deliberation skills has never been more apparent. That’s why we’re offering this specialized training to address these critical concerns.

Webinar Overview

Join us for a 90-minute webinar, "Engaging in Challenging Conversations: A Higher Education Webinar," facilitated by experienced leaders in dialogue, deliberation, and collaboration. This session will help you prepare to shape productive conversations with students and gain confidence in your abilities to respond to challenges, and create spaces of collaborative learning about complex issues. Participants will be able to raise issues of concern when they register, and the presentation team will tailor the webinar to address as many of these concerns as possible.

Who Should Attend?

While college and university faculty and staff will benefit most from this webinar, K-12 teachers and community leaders are welcome to attend as well. This session is designed to equip you with real strategies and tactics that can be used immediately in your educational setting.

Key Framing Elements

Our training recognizes the context of worry and concern many educators face today. We aim to provide practical solutions tailored to address specific challenges on campuses. By attending, you’ll gain access to strategies that foster constructive dialogue and deliberation, including the following elements:

• Intentionality: Identifying the starting place and goal of conversations.
• Co-create Group Agreements: Establish norms that promote respectful and productive discussions.
• Encourage Curious Perspective Sharing: Facilitate an environment where both agreement and disagreement can be expressed constructively.
• Deliberation 101: Learn how to ask deliberative questions that highlight public issue complexity and achieve meaningful outcomes.
• Broad Participation and Accessibility: Ensure that conversations are approachable and engaging for all participants.

Additionally, we will provide examples of critical situations, such as navigating faculty roles in states with contentious issues and situational navigation for challenging spaces.

Collaborative Partners

This webinar is a collaborative program by the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD), National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI), Interactivity Foundation (IF), Collaborative Discussion Project (CDP), NC Campus Engagement, James Madison Center for Civic Engagement, and JMU ICAD - Institute for Constructive Advocacy and Dialogue.

Join us for this essential training to enhance your skills in fostering meaningful dialogue and addressing the pressing challenges we face on campuses today. Don’t miss this opportunity to equip yourself with the tools needed to engage in challenging conversations effectively.

Register today to ensure your spot in this transformative webinar. We look forward to seeing you there and working together to create more engaged, thoughtful, and deliberative campus communities.

*If there is a hardship with cost, please contact [email protected].