Intergroup Dialogue in Higher Education (PDF)

Intergroup dialogue promotes student engagement across cultural andsocial divides on college campuses through a face-to-face,interactive, and facilitated learning experience that bringstogether twelve to eighteen students from two or more socialidentity groups over a sustained period of time. Students inintergroup dialogue explore commonalities and differences; examinethe nature and impact of discrimination, power, and privilege; andfind ways of working together toward greater inclusion, equality,and social justice.

Intergroup dialogue is offered as a cocurricular activity onsome campuses and as a course or part of a course on others. Thepractice of intergroup dialogue is considered a substantive andmeaningful avenue for preparing college graduates with theknowledge, commitment, and skills essential for living and workingin a diverse yet socially stratified society. The research evidencesupports the promise of intergroup dialogues to meet itseducational goals?consciousness raising, building relationshipsacross differences and conflicts, and strengthening individual andcollective capacities to promote social justice.

This volume outlines the theory, practice, and research onintergroup dialogue. It also offers educational resources tosupport the practice of intergroup dialogue. Addressing faculty,administrators, student affairs personnel, students, andpractitioners, this volume is a useful resource for anyoneimplementing intergroup dialogues in higher education.

This is the 4th issue of the 32nd volume of the Jossey-Bassreport series ASHE Higher Education Report Series.Each monograph in the series is the definitive analysis of a toughhigher education problem, based on thorough research of pertinentliterature and institutional experiences. Topics are identified bya national survey. Noted practitioners and scholars are thencommissioned to write the reports, with experts providing criticalreviews of each manuscript before publication.