Constructive Dialogue Institute
In 2023 the IFC began partnering with the Constructive Dialogue Institute (CDI) to assist in promoting meaningful conversations around contentious issues on our campus and beyond. CDI offers a range of platforms to help train students, staff, and faculty to have better discussions and deliberations. In the IFC, we work with instructors and co-curricular programs to implement a CDI program that makes sense with your intended learning outcomes or organizational goals.
For a quick overview of the CDI approach, click here. While it takes time and practice to develop conversational habits, this “conversation simulator” gives a preview of the approach.
Please contact IFC Assistant Director Kelly Shirah (shirah1@stolaf.edu) to learn more about the CDI approach, and how the Institute for Freedom and Community can help you customize a program that will fit in your classroom, office, team, or student organization.
Conversation Guides
The IFC partners with St. Olaf faculty to create conversation guides for challenging conversations. They cover topics including political beliefs, current events, and moral principals. If you are a faculty member interested in working with us to create a conversation guide, please reach out to Chris Chapp at chapp@stolaf.edu.
Off Campus Resources
Conversation Simulator (Constructive Dialogue Institute)
Learn three science-backed strategies for navigating difficult conversations and practice them through a personalized interactive online simulator.
Tips on Facilitating Effective Group Discussions
The Harriet W. Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning, Brown University
Transforming Conflict on College Campuses
A report produced by the Aspen Institute’s Citizenship and American Identity Program and the Constructive Dialogue Institute
I Never Thought of it That Way: How to have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times by Mónica Guzman
High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out by Amanda Ripley
Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age by Sherry Turkle
Think Again: The Power of Know What You Don’t Know by Adam Grant
The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don’t by Julia Galef
The Way Out: How to Overcome Toxic Polarization by Peter Coleman
Braver Angels – A citizens’ organization uniting red and blue Americans in a working alliance to depolarize America.
Listen First Project – Listen First Project elevates the impact of the movement to bridge divides in America. We connect the efforts of 500 Listen First Coalition partners bringing people together across divides.
BridgeUSA – a multi-partisan student movement that champions viewpoint diversity, responsible discourse, and a solution-oriented political culture.
Starts with Us – an organization founded on the beliefs that diversity of thought is a strength that leads to our most innovative ideas and that we must cooperate across our differences to solve the most pressing societal challenges of our time.