Resources for Civil Dialogue

Engaging differences due to ideology, religion, cultural heritage, national origin, race, class, gender, and sexual orientation is critical for sustaining democratic practice within society, generating collaboration among people and institutions, and creating innovation in business, governmental, nonprofit, and community enterprises. Civil dialogue refers to forms of communication that allow people to express vigorously their opinions and points of view, but in a way that contributes to rigorous and constructive deliberation on significant issues and empowers personal and professional relationships. Fostering civil dialogue can be challenging. This resource sheet is aimed at answering key questions that faculty may have regarding the role of civil dialogue at Texas A&M University as well strategies for fostering it.

Question #1: Should I avoid potentially controversial topics in the classroom?

The short answer is a resounding “no.” The traditional aim of a liberal arts education has focused on developing our students’ ability to think critically, to gather and marshal evidence in order to make sound arguments, and to debate multiple perspectives on an issue. Consistent with the concept of academic freedom, we do our students a disservice if we do not challenge their thinking by engaging in a rigorous discussion of contemporary and controversial issues. Academic freedom provides faculty the resources to engage in discussions of controversial topics but it is also connected to professional ethics which suggests that controversial topics should be germane to the subject matter.

For a statement of TAMU’s policies regarding academic freedom, responsibility, and ethics, please see the following links: http://www.tamus.edu/offices/policy/policies/pdf/12-01.pdf (Sections 1 & 2) 

http://rules-saps.tamu.edu/PDFs/12.01.99.M2.pdf (see Section 3).

Question #2: How can I prepare for talking about hot topics in the classroom?

When planning a classroom discussion of a hot topic, be clear about your objective. Be able to articulate what you hope your students will gain from participating in the discussion. Creating a conducive classroom environment for discussing hot topics includes setting discussion ground rules, developing questioning strategies for exploring the complexity of the topic, and finding ways to have students collectively work through the issue. The University of Berkeley’s Office of Education Development has links to several articles on develop a classroom climate conducive for civil dialogue (http://teaching.berkeley.edu/sensitivetopics.html) and the University of Michigan Center for Research, Learning, and Teaching provides several discussion guides according to topic (i.e., Iraq war and race and gender differences) for preparing classroom conversations (http://www.crlt.umich.edu/publinks/discussionguidelines.php).

Question #3: How can I transform hot classroom moments into teachable ones?

Probably the best answer to this question is provided by Lee Warren of the Derek Bok Center in his essay “Hot Moments in the Classroom.” ( http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/html/icb.topic58474/hotmoments.html)

He suggests that classroom instructors need to think differently about “hot moments” and become curious about why their students think the way they do rather than react emotionally. Strategies such as connecting potentially controversial comments with more meta-level issues are also highlighted. For example, a Jewish student’s comment about Louis Farraakhan can be tied to the issue of Jewish/African American political differences. A variety of resources are available that will enable you to develop an inclusive classroom that facilitates looking at the complexity of controversial issues:

http://www.crlt.umich.edu/gsis/P3_1.php

http://www.flinders.edu.au/teach/t4l/inclusive/controversial.php

http://www.tedi.uq.edu.au/cdip/pdfs/strategy_manageControversy.pdf

http://tdu.uws.edu.au/qilt/05_inclusivecurriculum/docs/TDU_IP_ContIssue_2.pdf

Question #4: How can I develop activities to foster civil dialogue at TAMU?

A number of models for fostering civil dialogue inside and outside the classroom have been developed nationally. If you are primarily interested in pedagogical initiatives, the Ford Foundation’s Difficult Dialogues Initiative (http://difficultdialogues.org/) presents several examples of classes as well as techniques for fostering civil dialogue on campus. If you are interested in examples of extracurricular activities as well as dialogue models for structuring conversations over controversial issues, you might consider programs such as Sustained Dialogue (www.sustaineddialogue.org/lisd.htm), the National Issues Forum (www.nifi.org), and Study Circles (www.everyday-democracy.org).

Question #5: Who at TAMU can provide resources and training for fostering civil dialogue?

A large number of faculty members, College of Liberal Arts initiatives, and TAMU academic units touch on the importance of civil dialogue. The Diversity Committee in the College (http://clla.tamu.edu/committees/diversity/) is a good resource for connecting with other faculty who share an interest in this topic. A number of academic units on campus are also a valuable resource for networking on this issue and also may be able to connect you with additional professional development opportunities in this area such as the Center for Teaching Excellence (http://cte.tamu.edu/), the Dean of Faculties and Associate Provost (http://dof.tamu.edu/), the Office of the Vice President and Associate Provost for Diversity (http://diversity.tamu.edu/), and Multicultural Services (http://dms.tamu.edu).