Democracy & Dialogues

Through the Democracy and Dialogues Initiative, UConn is working to increase democratic and civic capacity by supporting community dialogues on critical issues, providing moderator and facilitation training for dialogues and deliberations, and partnering with campus colleagues and local institutions to increase meaningful participation by all community members.

This initiative is part of Dodd Human Rights Impact Programs and supported by the Office of Global Affairs, the Office of the Provost, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Humanities Institute, UConn Extension, and the Division of Student Affairs’ Parent's Fund.

The Encounters Series is dedicated to fostering unexpected conversations around divisive issues and obscure knowledge. The program dives deeply into subjects that are of interest to the Greater Hartford community through facilitated, small-group dialogues followed by a question-and-answer style conversation with UConn faculty and community partners. Readings are provided beforehand to encourage informed and informal dialogue within conversations that often prove to be polarizing, and thus unproductive. Read more about The Encounters Series through Humanities for All.

Jan

14

UConn Dialogic Classroom
IPB

8:30 AM

This CCC+, CETL, and DDI workshop offers practical tools to faculty to help foster an open, conversational classroom culture, enhance student engagement, and prepare UConn students for dialogue competency in general education.
Jan

15

UConn Dialogic Classroom
IPB

12:00 AM

This CCC+, CETL, and DDI workshop offers practical tools to faculty to help foster an open, conversational classroom culture, enhance student engagement, and prepare UConn students for dialogue competency in general education.
Feb

7

Encounters: What Is Citizenship? Agency, Humanity, and the Struggle for Freedom in Connecticut
Connecticut’s Old State House

10:00 AM

Discover Connecticut’s evolving struggle for citizenship and belonging and be part of an engaging dialogue that blends history, storytelling, and civic action to re-examine citizenship through the lens of exclusion, resistance, and contemporary rights struggles.
Feb

21

Empowerment, Voice, and Agency: Examining the Future of Women’s Leadership.
CCSU Student Center

9:00 AM

Explore the evolving landscape of women’s leadership at a moment when questions of equity, opportunity, and representation sit at the center of national and global conversations.

At Visit to Dodd Center, Former Members of Congress Discuss Bridging Divides – and Issue a Call to Action

‘Today’s conversation is important, because it is a reminder of what our discourse can be’
Metanoia 2024 Kick-Off on Wednesday, April 17

This year’s Metanoia will focus on ‘pathways to productive civil discourse’
Dodd Impact Team Seeks ‘A More Perfect Union’ Through Community Conversation

History professor Brendan Kane and other UConn experts hosted statewide discussions on the nation’s founding documents, funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Connecticut Humanities Council
Art, Music Faculty Collaboration Illuminates ‘Paradox in Political Tribalism’

Following a divisive election, a multimedia collaboration asks searching questions about values and principles.