Fall 2006 Launch Events

In late October and early November, two weeks of launch events initiated the Difficult Dialogues program at Clark University. The launch series introduced our community to the definitions and practices of dialogue as a first step towards our goal of creating a climate for dialogue on campus (full summaries of these events are listed below). During the Day of Listening, the entire campus community had the opportunity to learn skills of respectful listening, hearing and being heard, in small informal workshops held all over campus. A workshop on the Way of Council launched our series on the Cultures of Dialogue. A keynote talk by Diana Chapman Walsh, President of Wellesley College, helped us set our sights for the year ahead. A public forum among the Boston leaders on both sides of the abortion issue allowed us to experience the powerful space of dialogue. Professor Les Blatt launched a faculty discussion series with an exploration of physicist David Bohm's work on dialogue. A Difficult Dialogues film and discussion series began with the film Promises, and the DD arts series commenced with a large improvisational drumming circle.

The Day of Listening | Oct 31

Since the Day of Listening, I have stopped myself
many times during conversations with friends and family
and refocused my attention on what they were saying.
That reminder is always in the back of my head now.
As I actively try to block out distractions, I become
a more considerate listener. – Kara Scimeca '06

“I’m Listening” proclaimed the bright yellow buttons that appeared on lapels and t-shirts – they were a quiet declaration that on this day, members of the Clark community were ready to gather together for a shared experience in listening.

It was a typically busy day on campus, in which students, faculty, staff and administration joined in on one of the 26 listening sessions that took place throughout the day. The participants were invited to slow down and, together, to consciously create a space in which they could explore the relationship between listening and dialogue. They leaned in, engaged in conversation, and shared experiences with one another – most often, with someone they had just met. They spoke of the benefits of good listening – as well as the challenges that come with it.

Participants left Clark’s Day of Listening with their interest whetted. They greeted others they saw on campus, who wore the bright yellow "I'm Listening" buttons, with a sense of camaraderie and connection from their shared experience. This one-hour experience in listening, and relating to fellow Clarkies, was a simple first step towards creating a true culture of dialogue on the Clark campus.

LEARN MORE
Day of Listening Facilitator's Guide – a reference sheet used by the facilitators (PDF file)

The Way of Council Workshop | Nov 1

Twenty participants arranged themselves in a large circle, careful to be able to achieve eye contact with one another. They had gathered for a new experience, to participate for a three-hour session in the “Way of Council” – an ancient form of dialogue that has been practiced for thousands of years, by diverse cultures and religions throughout the world. It was to be the first event in the Difficult Dialogues Culture of Dialogue Series.

Council facilitators Bonnie Mennell and Paul LeVasseur, both faculty members at the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vermont, introduced this practice to the Clark community.

Participants took part in council practices that stressed the critical importance of equal participation and empathetic listening. The council began with a ritual that focused the group’s attention, in order to leave distractions behind and become centered, relaxed and fully attentive to the present. Through a series of exercises, a "talking piece" was passed from person to person allowing everyone equal time to hear and be heard. Participants were urged to be open to the collective wisdom that could arise from this circle of communication - wisdom that was greater than any one person. We learned that council is about building relationships, a sense of teamwork, and trust.

LEARN MORE
The Ojai Foundation – a resource for Way of Council practice

Keynote Address: Diana Chapman Walsh | Nov 1

In her keynote address, Diana Chapman Walsh – President of Wellesley College – drew from personal experience in her work with dialogue in order to illuminate our own process. She underscored the importance of the Difficult Dialogues program here at Clark, both in academia and in this moment of history.

So I see at the heart of your project profound intellectual questions the academy needs to be taking up in our difficult dialogues, and profound institutional questions as well: Who our students can be if we attend more closely to their true intellectual needs. How our work lives can be, if we attend to one another, our aspirations and our struggles. What our institutions can be, if we attend to the whole enterprise as a shared responsibility.

And the world we could create, if we could learn to engage each other fruitfully across the differences and the silences that are polarizing and disempowering us and undermining our ability to govern ourselves responsibly. How do we take some risks and break down some of the barriers that perpetuate the over-commitment, overwork, accelerated pace, and resulting isolation, polarization, suspicion and mistrust that are, I think, the arch-enemies of thoughtful dialogue and, with it, deep and integral learning.

LEARN MORE
The Work of the World – Diana Chapman Walsh's keynote address (PDF file)
The Work of the World – video of the event

Bridging the Abortion Divide: The Boston Story | Nov 2

Abortion—just speaking the word evokes strong emotions. How could six leaders from opposite sides of the abortion issue maintain a dialogue with each other for over a decade? On November 2, Clark students and faculty, social workers, members of pro-life and pro-choice groups, counselors in reproductive health, streamed into Atwood Hall to learn the answer. They discovered how people with such fundamental differences in worldview could arrive at a place of mutual understanding and respect.

Their dialogue began after December 1994, when John Salvi shot and killed two people at Brookline reproductive health care clinics. The tension surrounding this event was high, and a call went out for people to come together in the face of tragedy. Thus, these six women – who were high-profile members in the abortion issue, but had never engaged in conversation with one another – entered into a secret dialogue facilitated by the Boston-based Public Conversations Project. With great candor, the leaders described their private dialogues as frustrating, discouraging, even painful. Yet, they recognized that they were also beginning tobridge the deep divides that had separated them for so long, and they agreed to continue their meetings.

As they deepened their friendship and connection over the years, the women spoke movingly about the mutual respect and self-revelation their dialogue has fostered. They called the experience “enriching” and “mysterious”, and believe their conversations were able to subtly, but positively, alter the divisive rhetoric surrounding the abortion issue. They each stressed that they continue to use the skills they learned in this process as leaders of organizations, as advocates, and as counselors.

LEARN MORE
Bridging the Divide – see video of the event
The Public Conversations Project

Communication for Social Change Consortium | CFSC

Listening and dialogue is essential to community cohesiveness, whether it be a community of interest, like Clark University, or a geographic community. Throughout poor communities and developing countries, community groups are using Communication for Social Change (CFSC) processes in innovative ways to address social issues. During this workshop, participants explored the fundamentals of these processes as applied to two case stories: “Know your HIV status” and accountable government. The workshop was conducted by Heidi Larson, associate research professor in IDCE, and James Hunt.

Hunt opened the workshop by defining CSCF as “a process of public and private dialogue through which people themselves define who they are, what they need and how to get what they need in order to improve their own lives.” In this way, says Hunt, CFSC has moved away from the message-driven, top-down model of communication traditionally used by development agencies. Hunt noted, “Dialogue is difficult. The CFSC model is oriented toward action. The participants have a commitment to going forward. You must be clear about what you want as a group or you can’t maximize the group energy.”

David Bohm and the Wholeness of Nature: a dialogue on physics and humanity | Nov 6

Maverick quantum theorist David Bohm put forward truly convincing arguments on the connections between the laws of nature at the atomic and nuclear scales, and the universe at large (including our own thoughts and behavior). What grew out of this thinking were his beliefs on the value of dialogue – that we all have a piece of reality, and the only way to get closer to reality is for each of us to share those individual pieces. In this event, the first in the Difficult Dialogues Faculty Series, Les Blatt, professor of physics and education, explored Bohm's ideas with a large audience of scientists, social scientists and humanities professionals. Blatt explained that, through his work in physics, Bohm became interested in the connectedness of all things. He explored enfoldment and unfoldment: everything as part of a whole, and the whole as a reflection all of its parts. He summarized Bohm’s view as this: we have all the collective knowledge in the universe, but it takes interactions among people to unfold it, to be conscious of this knowledge. Thus, he dedicated himself to creating space in his work for an open exchange of ideas, for listening and for true dialogue.

RECOMMENDED READING
On Dialogue – On Dialogue is the most comprehensive documentation to date of best-selling author David Bohm's dialogical world view. Bohm explores the purpose, methods and meanings of the multi-faceted process he referred to simply as "dialogue", suggesting that dialogue offers the possibility of an entirely new order of communication and relationship with ourselves, our fellows, and the world around us. – amazon.com

Promises  film screening | Nov 7

Though they live only 20 minutes apart, the seven Israeli and Palestinian children in the film, Promises, exist in completely separate worlds; the physical, historical and emotional obstacles between them run deep. The ability to have dialogues in a way that breaks through prejudices is surely a prerequisite for peace in the region, and yet hardly anyone has such conversations. The documentary filmmakers B.Z. Goldberg and Justin Shapiro were able to confront and overcome these obstacles for a time. The 2002 documentary film, Promises, explores the nature of these boundaries and tells the story of a few children who dared to cross the lines to meet their neighbors.
The screening – the first in the Difficult Dialogues film series – was framed by an introduction from Ian DeZalia, and a wrap-up Kevin Anderson. DeZalia, a Difficult Dialogues Fellow, invited viewers to keep in mind their own definition of dialogue while watching the film – when during the course of the story did they see dialogue occurring or being hindered, and what were the conditions that allowed for this to happen? After the film, Kevin Anderson, a Screen Studies professor, asked viewers to consider how the directors' choices shaped the dialogue between the children, and also to remember as viewers, that we are in a constant dialogue with the film itself.

Participants remained after the film to discuss these questions, and the issues behind the film, in small informal groups. The conversations gave people an opportunity to digest more fully what they had seen, as well as to engage with one another, to share their views, and to listen.

Drumming as Dialogue Workshop | Nov 8

Nonverbal dialogue held sway this night on Clark's campus, in the first event of the Difficult Dialogues Arts Series. Led by drummers from Earth Spirit, workshop participants were invited to communicate in a entirely new sphere. Drumming is a unique form of dialogue, dependent on keen listening and creative, natural response through rhythm and movement. The leader of the group opened the program by stressing that active listening is critical to dialogue and good communication.

After passing out pairs of long plastic tubes in bright red, yellows, blues and greens, he divided the group in three “bands” and invited each person to begin to play a beat. He encouraged all to listen to other rhythms being played in the group, then to join in. With laughter and energy, each group sifted through the chaos and began to create a rhythm and syncopation, experimenting as a group until they arrived at a beat they liked. The room filled with a pleasant rhythm that began as a tentative patter and rose in exuberance. The drumming leader reminded the group, “Like when there are too many words, and you can’t hear what’s being said, keep the rhythms simple. Figure out what you can do to contribute to the drama.” Once the bands had connected in their communication through music, they were introduced to a variety of different instruments – from the jembe for powerful slap, to the small june that keeps the rhythm pulsing underneath. Bells were added to add color to the musical conversation, as well as claves and shakers.

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