Say What? Let's Talk: Learning to Listen and Speak Across Difference

Have you ever found yourself wondering, “Did that person just say that?”? Have you ever felt like someone just didn’t understand where you were coming from? Have you ever found yourself caught off-guard by a comment and weren't sure how to respond? In this course, students will take stock of the aspects of their personal and social identities and how those identities shape their perspectives and life experiences. Topics will include emotional intelligence, active listening, empathy, civility, and other topics as they relate to diversity and inclusion. Students will engage in class exercises and deliberative dialogue that will increase their abilities to manage difficult conversations. This formal process--called InterGroup Dialogue (IGD)--explores how to talk across difference. IGD allows for critical self-reflection and offers the opportunity to challenge biases while building skills of listening, multiple perspective taking, and holding judgment “softly”. This course fulfills the FYP general education requirement.