Stories and Voices: An Interactive Dialogue Engaging Water

87 Main Street,Durham NH 03824

12 April, 2022

Description

UNH Civil Discourse Lab 5th Annual Stories and Voices Event The UNH Civil Discourse Lab and students from CMN 662 Public Dialogue and Deliberation will host a facilitated public dialogue surrounding our concerns, hopes and dreams associated with water in our region. This event is a guided public dialogue. We will provide facilitators and an informative Program Guide. It is not a public presentation. We welcome all interested persons including UNH neighbors, Indigenous People, the Seacoast community, scientists, activists, students, and faculty to participate. This is an in person event (at this time). Pre-registration is required. Registered participants are invited to join us for a buffet Italian Dinner that will be held in the Atrium of Hamilton-Smith from 5-6 p.m. Your ticket is your dinner voucher. We will be re-assigning seats prior to the event. The Civil Discourse Lab, of the Department of Communication, aims to strengthen the ability for University of New Hampshire students and community members to conduct meaningful conversations, collaborate, and make decisions around sometimes difficult but important topics to a civil society through research, engaged teaching and praxis. Stories & Voices and the work of the Civil Discourse Lab is supported by UNH Responsible Governance and Sustainable Citizenship Project, Andy Coville and Brodeur Partners, the UNH College of Liberal Arts and the Department of Communication. For more information, contact [email protected]. Per current University COVID policy, masks are required to be worn in all indoor spaces. If the policy changes, we will note it here. The Civil Discourse Lab at the University of New Hampshire (est. December 2017 by co-directors Jennifer Borda and Renee Heath, Department of Communication), locates communication practices in the relationship between civility, academic freedom, and freedom of expression in the classroom, within administration, and on campus. We launched the Lab with the expressed mission to integrate pedagogy, scholarship and praxis “to strengthen the ability of our students and community members to conduct meaningful conversations, collaborate, and make decisions about sometimes difficult but important topics to a civil society.” We believe that our democracy requires more people who value (and also research, teach, and practice) these abilities especially in this time of deep partisanship, discord, and tribalism. We do this in part through our curriculum, which teaches dialogue, public dialogue, deliberation, propaganda, persuasion and public problems, conflict mediation, and collaboration. Each semester, 25-50 students and alumni affiliate with the Lab by attending approved extracurricular lectures on topics that build their knowledge and empathy on difficult issues, equity, and power relationships, while also informing their praxis of engaging in and facilitating difficult conversations. Affiliates also are trained and volunteer their time to design deliberative dialogues and facilitate discussions on and off campus. Since spring 2018, we have designed and facilitated discussions on immigration, the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, the American Dream, climate change, and the stigma of addiction. Some of the “signature” features of Civil Discourse Lab designed dialogues and issue guides are to examine how/why “language matters,” to separate ideological positions from underlying emotions and values, and to encourage discursive openings that allow for learning and understanding (e.g. “calling in” instead of “calling out.”)