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Difficult Dialogues logo--in dialogue people learn to use the energy of their differences to enhance their collective wisdom
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Co-sponsored by Higgins School of Humanities and IDCE (International Development, Community and Environment). Funded by a major grant from the Ford Foundation

Difficult Dialogues is about creating a culture of dialogue on campus in which the practice of dialogue is recognized, appreciated, and practiced both inside and outside the classroom. We hope to do this by: building skills of dialogue among a sizeable number of faculty, staff, and students; creating opportunities for the community to engage in dialogue around significant and controversial issues common to us all; and integrating dialogue into a number of academic courses across the curriculum, thus ensuring its continued practice.

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Discussion

N A T I O N A L
National Difficult Dialogues Initiative

 

 

 

why dialogue, why now


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Climate Change Symposium

Difficult Dialogues Symposium
on Climate Change

The issue of climate change or global warming interweaves with all aspects of life on earth. Faced with this emerging planetary challenge, we are called urgently to become knowledgeable of its nature, uncertainties and stakes. In the dialogue symposium this spring, we addressed the issue of climate change so that as a community, we might deepen our factual knowledge of the issue, explore its multi-faceted sources and impacts, look into the risks and responsibilities ahead, and see from a range of perspectives (political, economic, scientific, aesthetic, ethical, literary, musical, spiritual) as we seek solutions.

Ron Eastman presenting at the Focus the Nation teach-inSarah Buie & Erica GettoOver the course of the semester, we offered 17 public events related to issues surrounding climate change: hearing from Environmentalist David Orr who gave our keynote address on the Changing Climate of US Politics; hosting a day-long Focus the Nation teach-in, at which over 20 Clark faculty members presented research from a wide range of academic disciplines; looking at the issue of climate change from an arts perspective with screenings of Art from the Arctic and The Day After Tomorrow, and from Indigenous perspectives with a screening of the documentary Yakoana; hosting a forum with state officials including Congressmen James McGovern and Barney Frank; and holding dialogues about Clark's own commitment to climate change with help from the Clark Sustainability Initiative and members of the Clark community.

posing questions at the Focus the Nation teach-inProfessor Brian CookThank you to everyone who particpated in the program this semester – through participation and planning of our symposium events, through teaching and enrolling in Difficult Dialogues courses, and in all the other ways in which our program continues to grow. To see the full range of public events offered this semester, as well as photos and resources related to each, please check the What's Happening section of our site.

photos clockwise from top left: Geography Professor Ron Eastman; Clark student Erica Getto and Director of the Difficult Dialogues initiative Sarah Buie; audience members at the Focus the Nation teach-in; Professor Brian Cook of the Government department

Our Fall 2008 symposium schedule will be posted later this summer – please check back for more information, or sign-up for our email list to receive the latest information.

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Dialogue Courses
Fall '08

Can we learn to engage each other on issues on which we differ, and listen respectfully for what it is that we can learn – about the subject, about others and ourselves, about our common values? Can we learn to think critically and with discernment about contentious issues? Can we put aside our assumptions, and sit with the discomfort and creative potential of not-knowing? In this fourth semester of DD courses, nearly fifteen courses with an emphasis on dialogue will be offered. These courses will approach the process of dialogue in a variety of ways and across a number of disciplines; they will relate as is relevant to the dialogue symposium programming.

click here for the full listings

 

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Contact Information

Sarah Buie

Director, Difficult Dialogues Project
Director, Higgins School of Humanities
Professor, V&PA
sbuie@clarku.edu

Miriam Chion

Associate Director, Difficult Dialogues Project
Assistant Professor, IDCE
mchion@clarku.edu

Jane Androski

Assistant Director, Difficult Dialogues
jandroski@clarku.edu