What is the value of Intergroup dialogue?
These dialogues encourage honest yet respectful exchanges about contentious issues (power imbalances, injustice) linked with social group membership among participants who belong to different social groups.
Intergroup dialogues are designed to foster
- increased awareness,
- self-examination,
- and active listening,
while also modeling deep consideration of alternative perspectives, sharing personal experiences, and airing differences honestly without imposing resolutions.
Developed at the University of Michigan during the 1980s, this learning approach relies on small classes with facilitators who demonstrate competence in:
knowledge and awareness of their own and others’ social identities and histories
small group leadership skills including conflict management, dialogic and reflective questioning, and empathy skills.
How does it work?
Intergroup dialogue courses are capped at about 16 students per course with at least two skilled facilitators, and use a 1-credit, 7-week (half-semester) format. These courses have been described as the “gold standard” for diversity education due to their emphasis on dialogue and understanding students’ lived experiences, careful attention to creating and maintaining a high-trust, high-respect classroom atmosphere, and the individualized attention and feedback students receive.
Note: Chun, E., & Evans, A. 2016. Rethinking cultural competence in higher education: An ecological framework for student development. ASHE Higher Education Report: Volume 42, Number 4.
Strategic Plan
Expanding the number of intergroup dialogue facilitators and courses is essential to the University of Maryland’s strategic plan, which includes as a pillar leading the nation in living a commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion by “investing in the capacity of our students, faculty, and staff to learn, teach, work, lead, and engage in dialogue across difference.”
Fearlessly Forward: In Pursuit of Excellence and Impact for the Public GoodGen Ed Changes
In March 2022, the University Senate overwhelmingly approved changes to the General Education diversity requirement that mandate a course focused on practice and/or skill-based content that includes, but is not limited to, intergroup dialogue. These changes are expected to go into effect in the mid-2020s.
Senate approvalWhat is the Maryland Intergroup Dialogue Collaborative (MIDC)?
The Maryland Intergroup Dialogue Collaborative (MIDC) is a cross-campus group of faculty, staff and administrators seeking to enhance facilitator preparation as well as expand the variety of intergroup dialogue courses and students’ access to them.
Utilizing theory, experiential learning, and social justice frameworks, MIDC supports participants in exploring key questions about our values, what we know about each other, and how cultural systems of inequity shape our personal and professional lives.
Who is the Maryland Intergroup Dialogue Collaborative?
The Maryland Intergroup Dialogue Collaborative was established in 2021 and amplified through funding provided by a 2022 TLTC Teaching & Learning program grant. The grant brought together campus leaders in intergroup dialogue and diversity education to rationalize intergroup dialogue course offerings and to create a framework for providing training and guidance in developing courses.
MIDC steering committee members represent:
Maryland Intergroup Dialogue Collaborative Steering Committee
- Ben Beltran, Assistant Director, Carillon Communities
- Dr. Traci Dula, Associate Director, Honors College
- Ramsey Jabaji, Director, Office of Global Engineering Leadership, A. James Clark School of Engineering
- Adam Klager, Faculty Assistant, Undergraduate Studies & A. James Clark School of Engineering
- Nicole Mehta, Assistant Director for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Department of Resident life
- Ben Parks, Associate Director, College Park Scholars
- Jazmin Pichardo, Assistant Director, Words of Engagement Intergroup Dialogue, Office of Diversity & Inclusion
- Dr. Cynthia Stevens, Associate Dean, Undergraduate Studies and Associate Professor of Management, Robert H. Smith School of Business
- Kimberly Syuardi, Social Media Intern, Undergraduate Student in Communications
What is the History of Intergroup Dialogue @ UMD?
This collaborative has leveraged our campus strengths and long history of engaging in identity-based intergroup dialogue through the College of Education and ODI’s Words of Engagement Program established in 2000, Resident Life’s Common Ground Program, the Honors College and one of its LLPs, Gemstone, student facilitator training course piloted in 2021, and the Clark School’s Equity & Inclusion in Engineering Design program established in 2021.