Engaging Impasse: Nurturing a Culture of Dialogic Engagement on a University Campus

Central States Communication Association. University of Montevallo, Department of Communication, 75 College Drive, Station 6625, Montevallo, AL 35115. e-mail: csca.ed@gmail.com; Web site: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jcp/

Y

16

College Students; Controversial Issues (Course Content); Organizational Communication; Community Involvement; School Culture; Equal Education; Diversity; Inclusion; Departments; Student Personnel Services; Universities; Facilitators (Individuals)

2640-4524
2578-2568

Universities have historically fostered spaces where students, faculty, staff, and administration can fruitfully engage in discussion around contentious issues. Current political divisions have had a chilling effect on these discussions inside and outside the classroom. To nurture a campus culture of dialogic engagement, the communication studies department in collaboration with the DEI office began a campus dialogue project that invited faculty, staff, students, and administration to participate in monthly dialogues focused on cultural impasse topics. This 5-year project has demonstrated that university communication studies departments can be instrumental in helping community members cross organizational boundaries to engage in challenging dialogues when they are focused on engagement, facilitated by students, intentionally welcoming, and predictably organized.

As Provided

2024

EJ1437165