Democracy & Dialogues Event Archive

2023-24

Encounters: Reclaiming Patriotism
Postponed
Join us for an engaging exploration of the multifaceted concept of patriotism! Whether it sparks pride, civic responsibility, skepticism, or even indifference, we’re delving into what patriotism means in today’s diverse world through facilitated dialogues and Q&A sessions with UConn faculty and community partners. This event is hosted by the Democracy & Dialogues Initiative part of Dodd Human Rights Impact Programs and Connecticut’s Old State House.
Register Here

Transforming Corrections - A Screening and Dialogue
December 5, 2023 | 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm | The Dodd Center for Human Rights, Konover Auditorium

Explore the transformative potential of criminal justice reform in a thought-provoking event featuring the screening of the documentary “Cutline - Transforming Corrections," which follows Connecticut leaders as they explore Norway’s progressive prison system. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion and Q&A with guest scholars, activists, and experts at the forefront of enacting change here in Connecticut. Ask questions and gain powerful insights from those directly involved in reshaping our local criminal justice policies.

Unlocking the Art of Moderation
November 3, 2023 | 10:00 am - 12:00 pm | Virtual

Gain insights into the role of a moderator as a guide to structured dialogues. Moderators serve as the event’s emcee, ensuring the flow and timing of dialogues while supporting facilitators.

Learn to navigate challenging conversations and dialogue management with ease. Dive deeper into the theory and practice of effective moderation and objective question formulation, leading to productive dialogues in the classroom, workplace, and/or the community. Join us now and take your moderating skills to another level!

Navigating Difficult Conversations: A Workshop on Dialogue Facilitation
November 1, 2023 | 10:00 am - 12:00 pm | The Dodd Center for Human Rights Lounge
Do you avoid difficult but important conversations? Have you wondered how to navigate a conversation that could be polarizing? Are you interested in gaining skills for engaging in meaningful dialogue with people who think differently from you? Join us for an immersive training experience, where you will
• Elevate your facilitation skills to become an invaluable leader in guiding “difficult” discussions;
• Develop expertise in fostering collaboration and mutual understanding through structured dialogue;
• Explore proven methods for maintaining, and engaging in productive conversations.
Register here

Encounters: The Changing Landscape of Policing
October 28, 2023 | 10:00 am - 12:00 pm | Parker Memorial Community Center, Hartford
21st-century America is increasingly polarized over policing. From yard signs to public protests, from political rhetoric to legislative acts, tension over the role and status of police grips us daily. Are we any closer to an answer? Join us for a dialogue on this most critically important subject in which we will explore the historical development of policing in our democracy and discuss the present-day landscape of law enforcement, community relations, and individual rights. Facilitated, small-group conversations will be followed by a Q&A with guest scholars and activists. You are warmly and respectfully encouraged to come speak from your heart about this subject that lies at the shared heart of the “Land of the Free.”
Register here

Encounters: Amistad - History, Culture, and Living Legacy
October 28, 2023 | 10:00 am - 12:00 pm | Mystic Seaport
*RESCHEDULED from October 21 due to inclement weather for the outdoor experience.
Step aboard the replica of the iconic Amistad in Mystic, CT to take part in a dialogue exploring the enduring legacy of the slave revolt that erupted on the original ship in 1839. Nearly two centuries after that momentous event, the Amistad’s legacy of fighting for racial equity still resonates strongly. Yet, we continue to live in a world plagued by racism and racial injustice. What lessons does the Amistad story have for us as we make sense of our nation’s past? What inspirations does it provide as we work toward a more racially celebratory and equitable present and future? Set against the backdrop of some of the sights and sounds experienced by the brave men and women of the Amistad as they took a stand for freedom, we will explore this famous event in history and its afterlives through small-group conversations and Q&A with guest scholars and activists. Come aboard and add your voice to the dialogue!
Register here

Encounters - Possesing Harriet
October 11, 2023 | 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm | HartBeat Ensemble, Carriage House Theater, Hartford
Please join us for Encounters - Possessing Harriet, a special dialogue event that features small group discussions, on critical questions about the play, as well as specialist feedback and engagement. This conversation model will dive deeply into the themes of Possessing Harriet through facilitated, small-group dialogues followed by a question and answer-style conversation with our community partners. Readings from the play are provided beforehand to better encourage informed and informal dialogue within conversations that often prove to be polarizing, and thus unproductive. HartBeat Ensemble will collaborate with Dodd Human Rights Impact using their patented Encounters model to provide audiences an opportunity to take a deeper dive into the intersectionality of abolition and suffrage in the 19th century and what it means in today’s battles around reparations and voting rights.
Register here

Unlocking the Art of Moderation
October 11, 2023 | 10:00 am - 12:00 pm | The Dodd Center for Human Rights Lounge

Gain insights into the role of a moderator as a guide to structured dialogues. Moderators serve as the event’s emcee, ensuring the flow and timing of dialogues while supporting facilitators.

Encounters - Destigmatizing Intimate Partner Violence
September 29, 2023 | 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm | Western Connecticut State University, Campus Center Building - Westside Campus Rooms 212/214
Domestic Violence is a pervading issue across our world. During the fiscal year of 2021, over 38,989 people sought domestic violence services in our state of Connecticut alone. This number is not reflective of all those who endure domestic violence, as violence often goes unreported. We need to shatter the silence. Through education, engagement, and empowerment, this program will shed light on domestic violence and create social change.
Join us as we learn, listen, and reflect through small group discussions with facilitators, and engage with experts in domestic violence services about this critical issue. A light dinner will be provided.
Register here

Navigating Difficult Conversations: A Workshop on Dialogue Facilitation
September 26, 2023 | 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm | The Dodd Center for Human Rights, Room 162
Do you avoid difficult but important conversations? Have you wondered how to navigate a conversation that could be polarizing? Are you interested in gaining skills for engaging in meaningful dialogue with people who think differently from you? Join us for an immersive training experience, where you will
• Elevate your facilitation skills to become an invaluable leader in guiding “difficult” discussions;
• Develop expertise in fostering collaboration and mutual understanding through structured dialogue;
• Explore proven methods for maintaining, and engaging in productive conversations.
Register here

Dialogues for Common Ground: American Identity & Connecticut’s Civic Reconstruction
Democracy is a Connecticut tradition. The “Constitution State” has for centuries been a place of evolving civic life, and has often inspired and informed the national approach to the rights of individuals and the electoral process. The 21st century brings new challenges and opportunities to innovative political engagement: locally, the “Land of Steady Habits” is a racially and ethnically diverse, economically unequal, and politically decentralized state; nationally, our democracy is under pressure from polarization, disinformation, and even violence. How might Connecticut communities harness the state’s long history of political innovation and reconstruct robust civic practices to address our present moment and look to the future?

The “American Identity and Connecticut’s Civic Reconstruction” program brings the conversation back to first principles, to the founding of the American democratic experiment, and aims to foster meaningful and informed discussion around the values that form the basis of our nation. In doing so, it encourages everyone to learn more about our shared history and to value and participate in our democracy.

This past program was funded by Connecticut Humanities through the 'A More Perfect Union' granting program of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute

2022-23

2021-22

2020-21

2019-20

2018-19

Prior to 2018