Dialogue for Change: From Conflict to Action
Over the next three years, Wesleyan University will lead Renewing Democracy’s Promise, an initiative to strengthen democratic culture at a moment when polarization is testing communities across the nation. Through dialogue, community, and civic engagement, Wesleyan will equip students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community partners with the skills and practices to engage across difference, build coalitions, and take action together.
This year’s Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns, Dialogue for Change: From Conflict to Action, is one of the inaugural campus events under the new initiative, bringing the Wesleyan community together for learning and action.
Watch as co-organizers Khalilah L. Brown-Dean, Rob Rosenthal Distinguished Professor of Civic Engagement and the executive director of the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life, and Hari Ramesh, assistant professor of government, recently sat down to discuss how the two-day seminar on November 14-15 will bring together students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members to engage in workshops, discussions, and skill-building around bridging differences and reinvigorating democracy.
Dialogue for Change: From Conflict to Action is free for Wesleyan's students, faculty, and staff, and is $25 for all other guests. Registration is open through November 7.
Speakers include Eboo Patel, founder and president of Interfaith America; Anna Deavere Smith Hon. ’97, an award-winning actor and innovator of “documentary theater”; and Sheila Heen, a professor and deputy director of the Harvard Negotiation Project, along with expert panelists, to explore how to find common ground and build on it to sustain inclusive communities, strengthen civic capacity, and empower citizens to speak, listen, and lead with courage and care.
The Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns, endowed by James J. Shasha ’50, P’82, supports lifelong learning and encourages participants to expand their knowledge and perspectives on significant issues.
