Annual Intergroup Dialogue Institute at The University of Michigan has Record Attendance
By: Monita Thompson, with assistance from Joseph Person
In July the 3rd Intergroup Dialogue Institute was hosted by the University of Michigan’s Program on Intergroup Relations (IGR). The Institute is held annually in Ann Arbor to disseminate the intergroup dialogue (IGD) pedagogy of the program to prospective Universities. Institute participants learn the theoretical principles of the IGD Program, attend lectures and small-group workshops, and sample various dialogue exercises and ways of incorporating dialogue techniques in co-curricular environments.
Intergroup Dialogues are face-toface, facilitated interactions between students of different social identity groups that explore issues of identity, difference, privilege, power, and oppression. Usually comprised of 12-16 participants, dialogues are based around social identities such as race, gender identity, sexual orientation, social class, ability status, nationality and religion.
Institute participants included Student Affairs staff and faculty from sixteen Universities. Student Affairs representatives were the majority of the attendees, but there was strong presence from faculty with backgrounds in Social Work, Sociology, Psychology, and Education. Those in attendance had a wide range of goals, from informational for those less familiar with IGD to those with specific needs on how to create an intergroup dialogue program on their campuses.
Despite the economic turmoil of the past year and limited travel budgets across campuses, the Institute had a 30% increase from the previous institute. “I think this speaks to the strong demand for these types of programs in campuses across the country,” said IGR Co-Director Kelly Maxwell. “The demand is certainly there for schools to address social justice issues through Intergroup Dialogue; and there’s also an eagerness for school officials to engage in these types of conversations themselves.” Founded in 1988, The Program on Intergroup Relations mission is to “pursue social justice through education.” The Program views intergroup dialogue courses and the cocurricular program CommonGround as the heart of its offerings. One of the distinguishing features of the University of Michigan’s Program is the role of undergraduate students as dialogue facilitators; “It’s been among the most rewarding things I’ve done in college,” said student facilitator Ani Toumajan during the institute student panel.
The schools that attended included: Baldwin-Wallace College, Broward College, Carleton College, Dominican University, Eastern Michigan University, Georgia State University, Hamline University, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Michigan Technology University, Princeton University, Sinclair Community College, University of Arizona, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Michigan- Dearborn, University of Pittsburgh, University of Texas at Austin.
The next Intergroup Dialogue Institute is scheduled for June 16-19, 2010 in Ann Arbor, MI. For more information, go to www.igr.umich.edu.
* * * * * * * * * *
Monita Thompson is the Director of The Program on Intergroup Relations, The University of Michigan: Ann Arbor.
Joseph Person was the Institute Coordinator for this Intergroup Dialogue Institute. |
|
Message from the Chair
What are we Doing?
Social Service or
Social Change?
Would They Still Have Written If They Knew I Had To Go Home And Tell My Wife?
JustConnect:
Social Media for Social Justice
Annual
Intergroup Dialogue Institute at The University of Michigan has Record Attendance
Call into the next
Dial-a-Dialogue
Phone Institute
Go There! Talk -
A Monthly Conference Call
Lasting One Hour
November Meet-up at the University of Iowa
----------
DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE NEWSLETTER (PDF)
The Newsletter: Fall 2009
|
