Students may have another option for learning how to communicate with people different than themselves in the future.

The Academic Senate approved a resolution to support the implementation, further study and more funding for an Intergroup Dialogue Program at Central Michigan University.

Angela Haddad, chair of Intergroup Dialogue Committee and associate sociology, anthropology and social work professor, said the goals of the program are for students to be able to competently engage in dialogue with people different from them, understand how social and cultural factors create differences in society and explore how the differences impact personal interactions.

Differences include religion, sexual orientation, disabilities, socioeconomic class and ethnicity, among others.

“These are areas where people have difficulty in dialoguing and connecting with other people on a variety of issues,” Haddad said.

The concept of Intergroup Dialogue programs started at the University of Michigan.

“The ultimate goal of having such a program on our campus would be to prepare students with skills and knowledge to communicate with others and to promote understanding of intergroup relations inside and outside of the classroom,” Haddad said.

Students enrolled in the course would attend a lecture class of 100 students taught by a faculty member to cover broad diversity themes. They also would be part of discussion groups of 10 students discussing specific topics.

The small group discussions would be facilitated by peer mentors who are representative of the groups being focused on. For example, students of two different religions would facilitate a discussion about dialogue between the groups.

“If we set the course up where we’re really looking at what our students are needing, we’re going to have students interested,” said Lisa Patterson, assistant communication and dramatic arts professor.

Another goal is to get different departments involved in the program, which also involves graduate students in the facilitation process.

“That sounds good for our religion department and for our philosophy department for that matter, but we don’t have graduate students – we don’t even have classrooms that would fit 100 people. Is there a way of accommodating that?” said Robert Stecker, a philosophy and religion professor.

Patterson said it would be possible, although there is no plan currently for such situations.

The committee envisions students who take the courses receiving recognition on their transcript.

“The University of Michigan, for example, tells us that their IGR program was frequently contacted by employers, who found students who had been part of their program to have the skills they needed – so they often ask for referrals,” Haddad said.

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