During the spring 2017 semester, the Global Café will focus on
Civic Responsibility, Discourse, and Action with the intent of providing effective tools and dialogical spaces for faculty and students to further develop skills to mediate social justice and environmental topics and concerns. Civil discourse is foundational to liberal arts education and training, and the Global Café seeks to provide enriching opportunities for our campus to engage in critical dialogue with the goal of elevating these practices in all our teaching and learning activities. To achieve this goal, the
Avery Point Global Café has partnered with the UCONN Humanities Institute and will host two workshops at the
Avery Point campus during the spring semester: 1) Tools for effective dialogue on divisive topics facilitated by
Essential Partners; and 2) Tools for community-organizing, led by partners from the
UConn Humanities Institute, with the goal of providing students steps for effective and meaningful participation and action.
Global Cafe Workshop for Faculty and Staff:
March 31st, 2017
10:00am-12:00pm
ACD 304
Reflective Structured Dialogue has been successfully employed to help individuals, groups, organizations and communities address such deeply divisive issues as immigration; diversity; and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, among others. This workshop will provide Avery Point faculty and staff a chance to speak with an Essential Partners practitioner about the possible uses and applications of the model in our classrooms, across programs, and through our community engagement activities. For more than 25 years,
Essential Partners has been a leader nationally and internationally, helping communities and organizations develop trust that underlies constructive engagement toward creative solutions. In the face of identity-related stresses and strains, their approach helps communities heal by:
• Strengthening individual and community resilience to engage differences respectfully.
• Promoting rehumanization of the “Other,” while reducing stereotypes, blaming and judgments.
• Shifting relationships toward productive engagement and coexistence, even when there is no common ground.
• Enhancing mutual understanding and learning through structured dialogues.
• Building community capacity for productive and civil conversations about complex and divisive issues.
This workshop provided an opportunity to learn new tools to effectively enhance student learning, program development and faculty collaboration, and community action and engagement.
Global Cafe Workshop for Students:
“Tools for Dialogue and Action” facilitated by Brendan Kane and students, UConn Humanities Institute
Are you interested in how to navigate difficult conversations?
Are you community-minded and looking for tools for action?
Join us for a STUDENT WORKSHOP on Dialogue & Action!
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
12:30-1:45pm *12:15 FREE PIZZA!
Avery Point Student Center Glass Room
More info contact: nancy.parent@uconn.edu
Community Volunteer Opportunities for Students:
The spring program will also include opportunities for community volunteering in partnership with Husky Ambassadors and UCONN Makes a Difference.
Avery Point students will be provided opportunities to work with social justice organizations in southeastern Connecticut. Please contact Nancy Parent,
nancy.parent@uconn.edu for more information.
All faculty are invited to include the above information into your syllabus and to consider emphasizing this theme in your courses through discussion, a reading assignment, and/or through attending a Global Cafe event.
The spring 2017 Global Cafe program is sponsored by the Avery Point Director’s Office, the UConn Humanities Institute, the American Studies Program, and in collaboration with the Avery Point 50th Anniversary celebration.
Upcoming Related Events:
The Initiative on Campus Dialogues (ICD)
Kickoff meeting
Wednesday, January 25th, 2017 from 2:00-3:30 PM at UCHI (Babbidge Library, 4th Floor, Room 209).
Glenn Mitoma and Matt Farley regarding the Kettering Foundation and curriculum development.
Contact: dana.miranda@uconn.edu or brendan.kane@uconn.edu for full meeting schedule.
Facilitating Challenging Conversations in the Classroom – Jane Fried
1/27/17 – Collaborative Learning Classroom – Homer Babbidge Library
1:30 – 3:00
Join us for a special teaching seminar featuring Dr. Jane Fried to discuss facilitation strategies for the classroom based in theory and practice. Jane Fried is Professor Emerita in the Department of Counselor Education and Family Therapy at Central Connecticut State University where she directed the master’s degree program in student development for almost two decades. Her scholarship addresses multiculturalism, student development and brain-based learning. Dr. Fried is an experienced trainer, group facilitator and diversity educator.
Space is limited.
To RSVP please click on the link: https://web9.uits.uconn.edu/fins/secure_inst/workshops/workshop_view.php?ser=58
Facilitator Training with Deva Woodly of the New School
2/23/17 – 2/24/17 Humanities Institute, Storrs
As part of its public humanities and public discourse initiatives, the Humanities Institute, in partnership with the Human Rights Institute, is hosting Dr. Deva Woodly who will be running a training workshop in Civic Reflection, a humanities-based dialogue model for critical conversations. Pre-registration required. Contact: Brendan.Kane@uconn.edu
The Power of Dialogue: Conversations on Divisive Issues
3/9/17 – 3/11/17 Essential Partners, Cambridge, MA
This is a comprehensive “deep dive” into our time-tested method for transforming conflicted conversations about divisive issues. Even within the most contentious issues or fraught situations, the right tools enable a community to foster understanding, restore relationships, and move forward. The Power of Dialogue is a highly interactive workshop that offers a widely applicable skill set for those with a range of experience levels. As a facilitator, you will learn how to create conversations that foster mutual understanding between groups and individuals divided by deep differences. Hundreds of facilitators, peacebuilders, mediators, and other community leaders from the US and 18 other countries have taken this workshop since its inception in 1996 and are implementing its lessons worldwide.
National Issues Forum Moderator Training
April 13, 2017, UConn Humanities Institute, 9:00-2:00pm
In partnership with the Humanities Institute and Connecticut Campus Compact, the Dodd Center is hosting a NIF Moderator Training designed to introduce participants to the concepts, skills, and issues associated with moderating and recording NIF-style public deliberations. You will also have the opportunity to apply your new skills at a forum hosted at UConn for E.O. Smith High School students on Monday, April 17th from 8:30am-10:30am. The forum will consider the issues of food justice and security, making use of the brand new NIF Guide: Land of Plenty: How Should We Ensure that People Have the Food They Need?.pdf.
http://thedoddcenter.uconn.edu/national-issues-forum-moderator-training/
