Let’s Talk: Dialogue and Deliberation in Higher Education

"Let's Talk: Dialogue and Deliberation in Higher Education" explores the use of dialogue and deliberation as tools within college and university settings. Lisa Bedinger, Co-Founder of Starling Collaborative, draws upon her experience working with staff, faculty, and students in Vermont to address challenging issues on campuses, particularly those related to separation and difference.
 
This paper aims to provide practitioners with additional tools and understanding to guide these crucial conversations effectively. It is grounded in the emerging field of dialogue and deliberation, which intersects with organizational development, conflict studies, education, political science, psychology, communication, and community activism, as well as various cultural and religious traditions. The author emphasizes the importance of human interaction in "high stakes, high risk and/or high benefit" situations and seeks to identify and improve principles of discourse for planned interactions while also developing the capacity to respond to unplanned aspects of human interaction.
 
The article defines key terms, distinguishing between dialogue (interaction with an intention to understand and learn) and deliberation (interaction with an intention to critically explore avenues of thinking and action). It also introduces the concept of "social technologies" – named, structured processes refined over time – as useful shortcuts for facilitating these interactions.