As you all are aware, there are a variety of traumatic events happening locally, nationally, and globally. While students do have campus spaces to engage in conversation processing these events, many are expressing desire for more of their faculty and staff to acknowledge these events, and sometimes to address them with the class. For many of us, these conversations might mean engaging with issues that we are not used to addressing in class and it can be challenging to balance the needs of students from a variety of backgrounds and views to feel welcome in the conversation.
To assist faculty in navigating these difficult conversations, and thereby support our students, Dawn Chisebe and Paul Dean will facilitate a discussion on these topics. We will not be presenting anything formally, but rather invite you to ask questions and share your own strategies for how to frame discussions. Some possible topics for us might be:
– How do we acknowledge these events are happening? What should we say and not say?
– How can we gracefully acknowledge our own limitations in understanding events happening in real time?
– How do we manage these conversations when students come from diverse political views?
– To which resources should we direct students?
All faculty and instructors are invited to join us next week:
How to Navigate Hard Class Conversations
Wed, April 28 at 12:00-1:00
https://owu-edu.zoom.us/j/94462070046?pwd=VTd4NlpvQzgwL0tucnAvSUJqdUZydz09
OWU Sponsoring Organization/Office: Academic Affairs
Contact: Paul Dean at psdean@owu.edu