Advancing the Field

Moving forward intergroup relations education on college campuses

Fall 2019 participants in Building a Dialogic Community. Photo by Henry Mochida.

Consultations

IGR faculty and staff offer consultations for colleagues that are outside the University of Michigan to advance intergroup relations education across the country. They are focused on introduction to intergroup dialogue, deepening dialogue facilitation skills, and development of a program.

Consultations are multi-day workshops focused on in-depth sharing of the program’s model of intergroup dialogue. They typically involve on-site visits tailored to the specific needs and goals of the host institution.

This year IGR provided consultations to:

Princeton University Southern New Hampshire University Villanova University Skidmore College (2 separate workshops) University of Illinois at Chicago (expanded 4-day workshop) Georgetown University (2 workshops) Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute SUNY Genesco Gilford College University of Michigan at Flint

In addition, in partnership with alumnx Dr. Kristie Ford (Skidmore College), IGR shared consultations at:

Harvard Graduate School of Education Grand Rapids Community College Luther College Ursinus College

Scheduled workshops which were postponed until the end of the pandemic:

University of Nevada at Reno Lake Forest College University of Dayton Gettysburg College (in collaboration with Dr. Ford)

Looking Forward: Drawing on data from the recent virtual Institute, we are designing virtual consultations that can be offered during the pandemic.

The Institute’s National Influence

The geochart below displays the 23 higher education institutions that attended the National Intergroup Dialogue Institute in 2020.

-Central Michigan University -Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute -St. Norbert College

-U-M | Flint

-Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law -Loyola University Chicago -U-M | Ann Arbor

-Metropolitan State University of Denver Boulder -University of Colorado Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus -Eureka College -St. John’s University -Endicott College

-Northeastern University

-Bryant University

-Indiana University Bloomington

-Chatham University -University of Richmond

-Texas A&M University -University of South Carolina -Pennsylvania College of Art and Design -Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology -The Steinman Foundation -Millersville University

The Institute The Program on Intergroup Relations (IGR) hosted its 14th National Intergroup Dialogue Institute (The Institute) and first ever Virtual Institute on June 23, 25, 30, and July 2, 2020. This year, 59 participants attended from 23 colleges and universities across the country. The Institute serves to introduce what is known as “The Michigan Model” for intergroup dialogue (IGD) and intergroup education in general to higher education institutions. This effort supports and advances IGR’s national leadership in its field and galvanizes its commitment to pursuing social justice through education.

The curriculum emphasizes several areas including:

Strategizing the development and support of academic and co-curricular programs Exploring the overall dialogue framework and The Michigan Model Participating in experiential activities commonly used in intergroup dialogue settings

Participants were engaged during the four days watching video presentations, completing assignments, attending large live panels, and actively participating in small cluster group sessions meant to simulate the dialogue experience. 34 of the 59 participants (58%) completed a brief evaluation with the following sample of responses:

The Institute was useful in meeting my goals: 83% agreed or strongly agreed I am energized by my participation: 90% agreed or strongly agreed I now have more resources to do my part of this work: 90% agreed or strongly agreed On average 89.5% of attendees found the asynchronous video content useful for their learning

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, IGR shifted The Institute to an online format that offered both asynchronous and synchonous sessions. To accomplish this, IGR partnered with the Center for Academic Innovation (CAI), LSA Tech Services, the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT), and ITS Teaching & Learning. IGR adapted best practices with an emphasis on virtual engagement activities and meeting accessibility standards for IGD practices. By the numbers: • 33 video sections • 11,000 minutes viewed • 1,631 video plays • 4 large live webinars