Fostering Civil Discourse

One orange and one green silhouette face one another

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Goal:

To provide resources to support faculty, staff, and students in fostering civil discourse.

Overview:

The socio-political climate can directly impact the campus environment and result in conversations between individuals with differing perspectives. Effective management of such difficult dialogues is a skill involving fostering engagement across differences. The curated list of resources below can support the campus community in fostering civil discourse within and beyond the classroom.

Resources

Guides, Articles, and More

Erin Gretzinger. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Can Colleges Foster Civil Discourse? – an analysis of events leading to effective or ineffective civil discourse and lessons learned; two approaches resulting in better outcomes were, “attempts to provide a variety of perspectives and a focus on subject-matter expertise.”
Institute for Democracy in Higher Education (AAC&U): Talking Politics – a variety of reports, articles, and guides that can guide instructors, administrative leadership, and educational developers engaging in politically-charged conversations.
Kay Landis (ed). Start Talking: A Handbook for Engaging Difficult Dialogues in Higher Education. University of Alaska Press – a guide supporting instructors, administrative leadership, and educational developers in raising difficult conversations in the classroom.
National Center for Free Speech and Civil Discourse (University of California) – a curated list of resources supporting engagement across differences.

Multimedia Resources

Engaging Differences Video Series. National Institute for Civil Discourse – a variety of videos that support constructive engagement across differences.
Backstory (PBS): Fostering Civil Discourse – a facilitated discussion on civil discourse between the Director of Civic Engagement and Deliberative Democracy at the National Institute for Civil Discourse and the Director of National Programs at the National Institute for Civil Discourse.

Sample Campus Programs

The Dialogue Project – a campus-wide initiative at Dartmouth College aimed to advance competency in civil discourse.
National Center for Free Speech and Civil Discourse (University of California) – see “Specific Programs in Higher Education” for a variety of campus-based programs promoting civil discourse.