On Wednesday, October 5, the University of Nebraska College of Law is hosting a Community Conversations event (ComCon for short). More than a third of the law student body has agreed to participate — that’s 133 people! Kristen Blankley (Nebraska) has been instrumental in planning the ComCon, in which students will serve as facilitators of rich and potentially difficult conversations about identity, diversity, and race. With Kristen’s permission, I am attaching the Facilitator Guide for the event.
Facilitating conversations skillfully (and creating the conditions for conversation in the first place) is invaluable in promoting positive change. It’s wonderful that Nebraska is hosting these conversations and creating such a terrific learning opportunity for students. Looking forward to hearing how it goes!
I am starting a multicultural mentoring program for students ( starting with AUAF in Kabul). In designing it, I am considering adding peer to peer mentoring. I wonder whether any of your students would have any interest in this?
Interesting thoughts about apologies! I agree that apologies should be well done, and that there should be some teaching (perhaps of facilitators) on how apologies should be handled.
I have some reservation with making a ground rule about apologies because I fear that will inadvertently put people on the defensive. I wouldn’t want to prime the students with the idea that they are going to offend others.
Perhaps if it were a longer program, that would make a lot of sense. In a 45-minute dialog, my main focus is for the students to feel comfortable, talk about their experiences, and learn to appreciate differences in all of their forms.
These conversations follow a great presentation we had last month by Dr. Arin Reeves, who teaches that diversity helps us make better decisions because we have more information and can look at problems in different ways.
Many are looking for a way to start a meaningful conversation, but fear is a big barrier. People want to be part of the solution and not part of the problem. I think your ground rules are a good way to create some safety.
I recommend adding a ground rule that encourages meaningful apologies (not the non-apologies we’ve been discussing on this blog) if someone inadvertently says something offensive that causes a member(s) to withdraw from the conversation. And part of the rule needs to be an acknowledgement of the apology (not a forced acceptance) and guidance about why the remark was offensive and suggestions on how to tackle a subject in a way that is not offensive.
I’ve found that a heartfelt apology goes a long way to keep the dialogue going. The majority will make mistakes and we want them to feel safe because this is a learning environment. If we address up front that missteps are inevitable, it helps participants leave their comfort zone if they know the damage won’t be irreparable.
I’m excited to hear about the results!
Actually, we will have faculty/student facilitation pairs. And I’m looking forward to it!