Intergroup Dialogue is a practice that has been around for several decades, pioneered and enhanced by folks at the University of Michigan.  IGD and other variants have been developed as a way to bridge differences and also educate people on issues of social justice, anti-racism, and other forms of discrimination.

IGD is based on two key components, the critical and the dialogic in which the critical is the core educational component centering social justice perspectives, and the dialogic is the process by which participants explore the content as well as diverse perspectives on the issues… the dialogic, or the process, is how people learn how to hear different perspectives that they may disagree with, but learn how to be respectful, seek to understand, and work to build relationships through difference.

If we consider the two components together, they are a part of a rich history of this practice.  However, more recent work explores ways in which the dialogic may be a powerful tool outside of the critical content.  This bifurcation is not to diminish the importance of taking a critical lens to social issues and challenges, but to highlight the mechanisms of interpersonal communication and relating that may be applied broadly to help resolve myriad interpersonal conflicts that we face each day.

The Office of Academic Culture and Well-being at Dornsife College is exploring the application of the dialogic in the academic setting as a pathway to establish foundations of effective and respectful dialogue in classroom settings.  For more information on this work, please contact us.

 

This list reflects research in the areas of intergroup dialogue and associated areas of interest including dialogue about race, higher education, and inclusion.  Key texts are in bold.