Dialogue Across Difference

Conversations About Ideas that Matter

In the current and contentious social-political context, helping students learn to dialogue across differences in beliefs is an important skill, not only for their personal growth but for the sake of our democracy. Montclair faculty share this value and regularly work with students to develop their capacities to communicate and learn across differences. Teaching students how to approach consequential topics in constructive ways is at the core of what the faculty do.

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Recently, President Koppell joined College Presidents for Civic Preparedness, an initiative by The Institute for Citizens and Scholars to nurture civil discourse. This campus-wide effort involves cultivating democratic engagement, teaching students to understand different points of view, and engaging in constructive discourse.

As part of this effort, the Office for Faculty Excellence, working with the Office of the President, has formed a Dialogue Across Difference Working Group.

The Working Group has three primary objectives:

Catalog and understand the learning activities faculty are using to foster dialogue across differences;
Create a Dialogue Across Difference Speaker Series, to be offered during the AY 2024-25, for and by faculty;
Identify other strategies for empowering faculty to foster dialogue across difference.

CfP: Faculty Survey

Dialogue Across Difference: Faculty Survey

Beginning with this survey, we seek to document the work the faculty does to teach students how to be constructively engaged citizens and to further develop our collective skills in this area. More specifically, we would like to

catalog and understand the learning activities faculty are using: activities, assignments, assessments, modules, etc.
Identify faculty who may be interested in contributing to a panel, recording a podcast, allowing observers to visit their class, or sharing their knowledge in other ways.

We appreciate you spending about 10 minutes to complete this survey.

Participate in the Survey

Speaker Series: Events

Dialogue Across Difference Speaker Series (*continuous development)

2024 Events	Day & Time – Description	Register (for active events)
Building Your Resilience for Difficult Dialogues Patricia Virella, Educational Leadership	Thursday, September 26, 1–2pm ONLINE An often unspoken challenge to supporting dialogue across differences in our courses is the challenge that such work presents for us. Fostering dialogue across differences can place instructors in a vulnerable position. You may reasonably have concerns about what individuals might say or that comments may be injurious or upsetting to you or others in the class. You may simply feel weary and unsure. In this workshop, Patricia Virella, an expert in school leadership development and crisis management, will offer instructors strategies for building resiliency and responding to difficult conversations.	Link
Unify America College Bowl Challenge	September 24–26 October 1–3 October 9 The Office of Civic and Voter Engagement invites faculty to encourage your students to join The Unify College Bowl Challenge — a dialogue program sponsored by Unify America. Participants are paired with others who may have differing perspectives, with the goal of finding common ground and fostering mutual understanding. Faculty might consider making this an assignment or an extra credit option. Directions for Students: Sign up for Unify America today to take part in these important conversations! The next series of discussions begins in just a couple weeks. Unify America is a non-partisan, non-profit organization aimed at bridging the political and social divides in the United States through civil dialogue and shared experiences. The organization connects people from diverse backgrounds and political ideologies for meaningful, one-on-one or group conversations about key issues facing the nation. Unify America’s mission is to replace polarization with constructive conversations that promote unity, cooperation, and a healthier democracy.	Link
Roundtable: Engaging Strategies that Center and Embrace Differences in the Classroom Jason Williams (Justice Studies) as discussion lead Sandra Bodin-Lerner (School of Communication and Media) Klara Naszkowska (Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies)	Wednesday, October 16, 11am–12pm (tentative) ONLINE The roundtable addresses the importance of centering and embracing differences in the classroom. Panelists will talk about best practices and provide examples used in their classroom. This panel will be interactive, so attendees should come with questions and suggestions.	Link
Navigating Intersections: Examining Gaps & Building Bridges in Our Diverse Community David Rivera, Queens College, CUNY	Monday, October 21, 9:15am–4:30pm University Hall, 7th floor The “Navigating Intersections: Examining Gaps and Building Bridges in Our Diverse Community” conference is a dynamic one-day event, designed to bring together Red Hawk staff, faculty, and administrators, to explore strategies for healing, renewing, supporting, and respecting the emotional well-being of Montclair students. Through engaging dialogues, interactive workshops, panel discussions, and consultations, attendees will delve into topics such as intersectionality, belonging, fostering inclusive campus communities, integrating mental health support into academic programs, equity gaps and mental health disparities, basic needs insecurity, and interfaith dialogue and healing. The conference aims to equip our community with practical tools and insights to create a more compassionate and supportive college environment, empowering students to thrive and succeed, academically, socially, and personally.	Link

Working Group Members

Dialogue Across Difference Working Group

Mark Allman, Office of the President

Jessica Brater, Department of Theater and Dance

Brad van Eeden-Moorefield, Department of Family Science and Human Development

Brigid Harrison, Political Science and Law

Emily Isaacs, Office for Faculty Excellence

Vera Senina, Office for Faculty Excellence

Tanesha Thomas, Department of Sociology

Patricia Virella, Educational Leadership

Jason Williams, Department of Justice Studies