Round Table Conversations on Oppression, Racism, and Religious Oppression Evaluating Degree of Meaning
Main Article Content
Keywords
Keywords: civil dialogue, round tables, structured conversations, oppression
Abstract
This study empirically examines the experience of 196 undergraduate students from two universities, one a secular state institution and the other a Christian college, enrolled in courses on human diversity. The students engaged in structured conversations as a vehicle for increasing the students’ understanding of the lived experiences of others. Conversation topics included understandings of racial and religious oppression. The goal of the study was for students to intentionally engage in structured conversations about contentious topics (oppression, race, and religious oppression) to develop an understanding of the lived experiences of others. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed, and the findings are presented. The conversation experiences were universally found by students at both institutions of higher education to be overwhelmingly meaningful.
References
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Allport, G. (1954/1979). The nature of prejudices. Basic Books
Baker, A., Jensen, P., & Kolb, D. (2002). Conversational learning: An experiential approach to knowledge creation. Quorum Books
Blades, J., & Parsa, P. (2021). Overcoming polarization through local dialogue and story-telling. National Civic Review, 109(4), 13-18. https://www.nationalcivicleague.org/ncr-article/overcoming-polarization-through-local-dialogue-and-story-telling/
Blue, K. (2006). Practical justice. InterVarsity Press
Burrell, L. (2020) What can they be thinking? Fostering dialogue across divides. In E. Sample & D. Irvin-Erickson (eds.) Building peace in America. Rowman & Littlefield
Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). (2020). About us. https://www.cswe.org/
Courageous Conversation. (2020, September 3). Courageous conversation about race. https://courageousconversation.com/about/
Davies, K., Tropp, L., Aron, A., Pettigrew, T., & Wright, S. (2011). Cross-group friendships and intergroup attitudes: A meta-analytic review. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 15(4), 332-351. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868311411103
Dobson, A. (2012). Listening: The new democratic deficit. Political Studies, 60(4), 843-859. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9248.2012.00944.x
Edwards, S. (2016). Critical conversation about religion: Promises and pitfalls of a social justice approach to interfaith dialogue. Information Aged Published
Edwards, S. (2018). Critical reflections on the interfaith movement: A social justice perspective. In M. Adams, W. J. Blumenfeld, D. Chase, J. Catalana, K. DeJong, H. W. Hackman, L. E. Hopkins, B. J. Love, M. L. Peters, D. Shlasko, & X. Zuniga, (eds.). (2018). Readings for diversity and social justice (4th ed.). Routledge
Essential Partners. (2016-2019). Our method. https://whatisessential.org/
Everett, J. (2013). Intergroup contact theory: Past, present, and future. The Inquisitive Mind 2, (17).
Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2-3), 87-105. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1096-7516(00)00016-6
Gurin, P., Nagda, B., Zuniga, X. (2013). Dialogue across difference: Practice, theory, and research on intergroup dialogue. Russell Sage Foundation
Guthrie, K., & McCracken, H. (2010). Teaching and learning social justice through online service-learning courses. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 11, 78-94. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ913861.pdf
Hogg, M.. Abrams, D., Otten, S., & Hinkle, S. (2004). The Social Identity Perspective: Intergroup relations, self-conception, and small groups. Small Group Research, 35, 246-276. DOI: 10.1177/1046496404263424
Holy Bible, English Standard Version. (2017). Crossway/Good News Publishers
Holy Bible, New International Version. (2011). Zondervan
Kolb, D. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development (Vol. 1). Prentice-Hall
Leskes, A. (2013). A plea for civil discourse. Liberal Education, 99(4), 44–51. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1094909
Living Room Conversations. (2021). What is living room conversations? https://livingroomconversations.org
Micsky, T.. & Foels. (2019). Community of inquiry (CoI): A framework for social work distance educators, Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 49(4-5), 293-307. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841233.2019.1642976
Mockett, M. (2020). American harvest: God, country, and framing in the heartland. Graywolf Press
Nagda, B., Yeakley, A., Gurin, P., & Sorensen, N. (2012). Intergroup dialogue: A critical-dialogic model for conflict engagement. In L. Tropp (ed.). The Oxford handbook of intergroup conflict. (pp. 210-228) Oxford University Press
National Association of Social Workers. (2021)). NASW code of ethics. https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English
National Association of Social Workers. (2017). NASW technology standards in social work practice. Forward.
https://www.socialworkers.org/includes/newIncludes/homepage/PRA-BRO-33617.TechStandards_FINAL_POSTING.pdf
Oliver, C., Jones, E., Rayner, A., Penner, J., & Jamieson, A. (2017). Teaching social work students to speak up. Social Work Education, 36(6), 702-714. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2017.1305348
Pasque, P., Chesler, M., Charbeneau, J., & Carlson, C. (2013). Pedagogical approaches to student racial conflict in the classroom. Journal of diversity in higher education, 6(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031695
Ricks, L., Kitchens, S., Goodrich, T., & Hancock, E. (2014). My story: The use of narrative therapy in individual and group counseling. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 9(1), 99-110. DOI:10.1080/15401383.2013.870947
Shryack, J., Taylor, L., Raps, B., & Blades, J. (2020). Living room conversations: Identity formation and democracy. In E. Sample & D. Irvin-Erickson (eds.). Building peace in America. (pp. 63-74). Rowman & Littlefield
Suzuki, W., Feliu-Mojer, M., Hasson, U., Yehuda, R, & Zarate, J. (2018). Dialogues: The science and power of storytelling. The Journal of Neuroscience, 38(44), 9468-9470. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1942-18.2018
Taylor, E. & Cranton, P. (2012). The handbook of transformative learning: Theory, research, and practice. Jossey-Bass
Wilkins-Yel, K., Gumbiner, L. Grimes, J., & Jonah Li, P. (2020) Advancing social justice training through a difficult dialogue initiative: Reflections from facilitators and participants. The Counseling Psychologist, 48(6). https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000020919905
Worthington, R., & Arevalo Avalos, M. (2017). Difficult dialogues in counselor training and higher education. In J. Casas, L. Suzuki, C. Alexander, M. Jackson (eds.). Handbook of Multicultural Counseling (4th ed., pp. 360-372). Sage