Let's Talk About Dissent on Campus: Communication for Challenging Times

Let's Talk About Dissent on Campus: Communication for Challenging Times

Tuesday, April 29, 2025, 12:30-4:30 PM: Lunch will be served at 12:30, with the workshop beginning at 1:30 PM.

Location: Pyle Center, Room 313

featuring Jennifer Linde, Founding Director of the Institute for Civil Dialogue, Teaching Professor Emerita, Hugh Down School of Human Communication, Arizona State University

Description

Police violence, the war in Gaza, democratic backsliding, and reproductive rights are among the issues fueling campus protests and demonstrations in recent months (and years). But what does dissent on campus look like today? What can and should dissent look like on campus? As we witness demonstrations of dissent at universities and institutions across the country and navigate the new “expressive activity” policies on college campuses, we invite you to join the workshop to learn new communication methods for understanding the complexity of this topic during this challenging moment.

In this three-hour workshop, participants will gain an understanding of civil communication by envisioning a nesting of three entities: the individual, the group, and the community. Through a series of interactive exercises, participants will learn how individuals pursue personal honesty and deep listening, how small groups unite for fellowship and honest story-sharing (Storyscope), and how communities engage in dialogue (Civil Dialogue®) to promote diversity of thought and practice in the public.

Facilitator Bio: Jennifer Linde is an emerita teaching professor at The Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University. Linde designed and taught performance studies courses about communication and creativity, civil communication, oral interpretation of literature, performance of identity, and methods for adapting traditional scholarship to the stage. She participated in the design and development of Civil Dialogue® and has used it extensively in her teaching and community-based projects. Linde is co-founder of The Institute for Civil Dialogue and currently serves as its president. In 2017 she co-founded The Storyscope Project, a story circle program that promotes inclusivity and listening. She is the co-author of Hot Topics, Cool Heads: A Handbook for Civil Dialogue. More information on the institute can be found at https://www.civil-dialogue.com/

This event is brought to you by the UW-Madison Human Rights Program, the Department of Communication Arts, the Center for the Humanities, the Civic Health of Wisconsin Initiative, and the Center for Community and Nonprofit Studies with generous funding from the Wisconsin Institute for Citizenship & Civil Dialogue (WICCD)

If you plan to join us for lunch and have any food restrictions we should know about, please email Ali Rushevics at rushevics@wisc.edu to share your needs.