CU Dialogues Program Receives two 2017-18 Outreach Grants
The Program gratefully received two Outreach Grants in 2017. For the grant, “Community-Building Dialogues with Mobile Home Park Residents,” we will work with CU Engage’s Director of Community Partnerships, Manuela Sifuentes, to collaborate with residents of Vista Village Mobile Home Park (VVMHP) in Boulder and develop dialogues for VVMHP residents that aim to help build a stronger community despite the language divide between English and Spanish speakers. We will involve CU students in the design and facilitation of these dialogues. For the grant, “Community Dialogues about ‘Opting Out’ of State Assessments in Colorado,” we will serve as consultants for Professors Dr. Terri Wilson and Dr. Michele Moses, as they develop a set of community dialogues for high-school students, parents and administrators thinking about the issue of high school students opting out of state standardized tests.
Civic Action Plan Dialogues
During the 2017-18 academic year the CU Dialogues Program is working with the Office of Outreach to help develop a series of dialogues for CU-Boulder faculty and administrators as part of a roll-out of a new Civic Action Plan for the University. We have hired a CU-Boulder graduate student, Kelsey Kinser, to help with the design and coordination of these dialogues. Kelsey was a student in our Spring 2017 “Dialogue Across Difference” course.
Spencer Foundation Research Grant
During AY 2015-16, the CU Dialogues Program is serving as the primary research site for the Spencer Foundation’s New Civics Initiative, a project that promotes high-quality civic and political engagement among young adults. Dialogues Program Co-Director Karen Ramirez serves as co-PI on the project. Last fall, 15 classroom dialogues were observed by research teams who audio/video recorded the dialogues and took field notes. This research aims to produce tools for measuring the quality of interaction across difference, including differences of race, class, religious affiliation and political ideology.
Dialogues Program Receives 2015 CCORE Diversity Service Recognition Award
The CU Dialogues Program received the 2015 CCORE Diversity Service Recognition Award. The award is given annually by the Chancellor’s Committee on Race and Ethnicity to recognize outstanding efforts to create a diverse and supportive learning, working, and living environment and to honor campus units for their commitment to promoting an understanding of multicultural issues.
Dialogues Program to Participate in Kettering Centers for Public Life Exchange
The CU Dialogues Program and "BoulderTalks," a new center for public deliberation within the College of Media, Communication and Information directed by Prof. Leah Sprain, have been selected to participate in the Kettering Centers for Public Life learning exchange in 2016. The goal of joint CU Dialogues-BoulderTalks participation is to facilitate collaboration in addressing public issues on campus and in the community. Participating in the learning exchange positions the two programs to become part of the Kettering Centers for Public Life Network.
Dialogues Advance CU-Boulder’s Strategic Plan for Inclusive Excellence
The CU Dialogues Program has begun facilitating dialogues to support the Diversity, Inclusion and Academic Excellence Strategic Planning Process at CU-Boulder.
AY 2015-16 Dialogues on Sexual Assault
Last spring the CU Dialogues Program held a series of dialogues in Farrand Hall on the issue of sexual assault (http://www.colorado.edu/news/features/cu-dialogues-its-us-what-does-it-mean).
Based on the success of these dialogues and in response to positive student feedback, the Dialogues Program will be offering facilitated dialogues on sexual assault to Residence Hall and RAP Directors again this year.
Please contact us at Dialogues@Colorado.Edu if you would like to schedule a dialogue on the issue of sexual assault for your Residence Hall or RAP.
2015 IMPART Grant
CU-Boulder’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement has awarded Dialogues Program Co-Directors Drs. Ellen Aiken and Karen Ramirez an IMPART Grant to develop an undergraduate course in Dialogue Across Difference.
The course will be offered as part of the School of Education’s Leadership Minor. It will blend theoretical learning about social identity, power, privilege and oppression with intergroup dialogue practices. The overarching goal of the course is to prepare students to facilitate dialogues between diverse campus communities within the University, following on research demonstrating that interaction is key to increasing awareness and understanding of racial and gender inequalities (Pettigrew and Tropp, 2008, 2011).
IMPART grants are awarded to faculty to support research/teaching that integrates multicultural perspectives and creates a more inclusive campus environment.
2015 Campus Compact Engaged Scholarship Grant
CU Dialogues Program Co-Directors Drs. Ellen Aiken and Karen Ramirez have received an Engaged Scholarship Grant from the Campus Compact of the Mountain West. In collaboration with the University Hill Neighborhood Association, Aiken, Ramirez, and CU Dialogues Program Graduate Assistant Claire Chase will design a series of dialogues between CU students and permanent residents in the Hill neighborhood community. The overarching goal of the project is to put in place durable social structures within the community that support ongoing dialogue between students living on the Hill and permanent Hill neighborhood residents. CU students will help design and facilitate the dialogues.
The Campus Compact of the Mountain West awards eight Engaged Scholarship Grants each year to fund faculty projects that promote community engagement. These grants are intended to support and strengthen reciprocal community partnerships, promote student learning, and increase the visibility and legitimacy of community engagement work in higher education.