About WE --> Intergroup Dialogues

Check out The National Conference on Dialogue and Deliberation site which maintains an extensive dictionary of keyterms and definitions in the practice of Intergroup Dialogue. They also offer an extensive listing of resources related to the practice of dialogue both in academic and community settings.

Types of Intergroup Dialogues (IDs)

Types of IDs

There are 3 types of IDs offered to students:

“Group-Specific” or “Bi-Communal”

Two groups of 8 to 10 participants each (16 to 20 total), representing two discrete identity groups that are brought together for 6 two and a half hour sessions (15 contact hours for 1 credit) to discuss issues and forge relationships between the groups. Two facilitators, one from each of the two identity groups represented in a given group-specific intergroup dialogue, co-facilitate.

“Issue-Specific” or “Emergent-Theme”

A group of 15 to 20 participants convened for 6 two and a half hour sessions (15 contact hours for 1 credit) to discuss a specific diversity-related issue(s). Two facilitators, each representing a variety of different identity groups, co-facilitate.

Both kinds have:

• participants from the groups that represent a wide range of perspectives on the perceived salient "issues" between the two groups;
• participants from the groups that have credibility with their respective larger constituencies;
• participants from the groups that include, but are not limited to, members of the groups' leaderships; and,
• facilitators with the following special skills:
• extensive content area knowledge about the range of experiences of both groups’ members and the issues between them (specific and general);
• the ability to challenge, as well as support, the thinking of both groups’ members, as an insider to one and an outsider to the other; and,
• extensive facilitation experience.

“Story Circle” or “Study Circle” or “Culture Circle”

Smaller, more intimate, groups of 6 to 8 participants, who meet for 6 two and a half hour sessions (15 contact hours for 1 credit) to discuss, through the sharing of their autobiographical narratives, how they each conceptualize and experience the group identity they have in common (which is the focus of a given dialogue). A single facilitator, representing the identity group at focus in a given story circle intergroup dialogue, facilitates.

In all three kinds of Intergroup Dialogue:

• discussion is generative but the skilled facilitators guide it, using problem-posing questions, to ensure that certain issues are addressed; and,
• the participants decide on parameters for engagement usually having to do with:
• ways to demonstrate respect for everyone's perspective;
• making sure that everyone is included in the dialogue—that no person or group dominates the discussion; and,
• the content focus or foci for the dialogue.