Intergroup Dialogue in Higher Education: Meaningful Learning About Social Justice: ASHE Higher Education Report, Volume 32, Number 4

Intergroup dialogue promotes student engagement across cultural and social divides on college campuses through a face-to-face, interactive, and facilitated learning experience that brings together twelve to eighteen students from two or more social identity groups over a sustained period of time. Students in intergroup dialogue explore commonalities and differences; examine the nature and impact of discrimination, power, and privilege; and find ways of working together toward greater inclusion, equality, and social justice. Intergroup dialogue is offered as a cocurricular activity on some campuses and as a course or part of a course on others. The practice of intergroup dialogue is considered a substantive and meaningful avenue for preparing college graduates with the knowledge, commitment, and skills essential for living and working in a diverse yet socially stratified society. The research evidence supports the promise of intergroup dialogues to meet its educational goals consciousness raising, building relationships across differences and conflicts, and strengthening individual and collective capacities to promote social justice. This volume outlines the theory, practice, and research on intergroup dialogue. It also offers educational resources to support the practice of intergroup dialogue. Addressing faculty, administrators, student affairs personnel, students, and practitioners, this volume is a useful resource for anyone implementing intergroup dialogues in higher education. This is the 4th issue of the 32nd volume of the Jossey-Bass report series ASHE Higher Education Report Series. Each monograph in the series is the definitive analysis of a tough higher education problem, based on thorough research of pertinent literature and institutional experiences. Topics are identified by a national survey. Noted practitioners and scholars are then commissioned to write the reports, with experts providing critical reviews of each manuscript before publication.

Table of Contents:
Executive Summary vii Foreword xiii Acknowledgments xv Intergroup Dialogue in Higher Education: Definition, Origins, and Practices 1 Defining Intergroup Dialogue 2 Historical Roots of and Contemporary Influences on Intergroup Dialogue 5 Organization of This Monograph 8 Educational Goals of Intergroup Dialogue 9 Consciousness Raising 9 Building Relationships Across Differences and Conflicts 12 Strengthening Individual and Collective Capacities to Promote Social Justice 16 Design and Practice Principles in Intergroup Dialogue 19 A Key Pedagogical Assumption 19 Design Elements 20 The Four-Stage Design of Intergroup Dialogue 26 Practice Principles for Intergroup Dialogue 31 Facilitating Intergroup Dialogues 39 Why Facilitation and Cofacilitation? 39 Competencies Required for Facilitators of Intergroup Dialogue 41 Preparing Facilitators for Intergroup Dialogues 43 Major Issues and Challenges in Facilitating Intergroup Dialogues and Programs 51 Research on Outcomes and Processes of Intergroup Dialogue 59 A Conceptual Framework for Research on Intergroup Dialogue 60 Outcomes of Intergroup Dialogue 64 Conclusion 72 Program Development, Implementation, and Institutional Impact 75 Program Development 75 Implementation and Sustainability 81 Institutional Impact of IGD Programs 85 Final Thoughts 89 Appendix: Educational Resources 91 References 111 Name Index 121 Subject Index 125 About the Authors 127