During the first three days of the fall 2020 semester, IUP's chapter of the national Difficult Dialogues program is offering multiple virtual workshop sessions that will prepare you to engage in conversations with people holding views different from your own. Use the link below to register for one of the virtual sessions offered August 24, 25, and 26.
This workshop is for everyone in our IUP communitystudents, staff, and facultywho has ever wished they knew how to respond when someone says something upsetting. When confronted with a hurtful or even offensive remark, it's tough to know what to do, especially in the heat of the moment. Ignoring or running from the situation isn't right, but most of us simply don't know what to do, and fear that speaking up with only make things worse.
Let's make IUPand the worlda better place. Attend one of the multiple virtual sessions available for this workshop.
Workshop Sessions
- Monday, August 24: 3:00 p.m.
- Tuesday, August 25: 10:00 a.m. or Noon
- Wednesday, August 26: 8:30 a.m., 1:00 p.m., or 5:00 p.m.
"Stopping the Moment: How to Respond to Upsetting Remarks"
A Difficult Dialogues Workshop
90 minutes
This workshop will introduce the basic principles of Difficult Dialogues using a technique called "responding in the moment" in response to an offensive or upsetting statement. Moments like this can occur peer-to-peer, colleague-to-colleague, and inside and outside of the classroom. It is hard to know what to say in the moment, so we often avoid saying anything at all. Using the tools of Difficult Dialogues, we will learn ways to engage in the conversation instead of running from it. This workshop is open to allstudents, staff, and facultyregardless of any prior experience (or not) with Difficult Dialogues.
This Difficult Dialogues workshop is sponsored in partnership with the Social Equity and Title IX Office, the Elephant in the Room series, the Free Speech Project, SPATE (Simulation Performance and Applied Theatre Ensemble)Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance, the Center for Multicultural Student Leadership and Engagement, and the Women's and Gender Studies Program