Civil Dialogue Project

Founded in the fall of 2023, the Civil Dialogue Project’s purpose is to create a campus culture of civil dialogue. The Civil Dialogue Project provides resources and support to students, staff, faculty and community members.

MISSION STATEMENT

To provide resources, space, and experiences to foster civil dialogue, so that the campus community has the skills they need to be engaged citizens.

Binghamton’s Definition of Dialogue

Conversations across divides.

Our Dialogue Principles:

Listen to Understand
- Instead of listening to form a question or judgment, engage your mind to go deeper and ask yourself, “do I understand where they are coming from?”
- Dialogue not debate
Questions of Genuine Curiosity
- Let go of yes or no questions, or questions that have judgment attached, ask questions from a place of wanting to know more or take the conversation deeper.
Common Agreements
- To have civil dialogue, we must agree to certain boundaries for the conversation. Here are Binghamton's Common Agreements: (for your dialogue you can take these, build off of them, or create your own. Under resources we have guides for you to create your own common agreements.)
- Binghamton's Common Agreements
Be Open
- Leave your preconceived notions of individuals you may know or do not know at the door. Also open yourself up to the possibilities that dialogue offers.
Ask for What you Need
- This is broad purposefully, whether it means you need to take time for yourself, leave early, not speak at all, need time with a facilitator after a dialogue, etc. The Civil Dialogue Project is here for you.
Acknowledge the Story of Others and Your Own
- We are all different individuals with our own lived experiences that inform who we are. It is important to recognize that not just inside yourself but those around you.

4 Pillars and Offerings

The Civil Dialogue Project has four pillars: students, faculty, staff, and the Binghamton community at large. We partner with Constructive Dialogue Institute using their Perspectives, blended learning program, which equips you with practical skills to engage in dialogue across lines of difference. Our program builds off of Perspectives to provide students the opportunity to earn the Constructive Dialogue Microcredential. We have two (inaugural) core faculty programs: the Civil Dialogue Teaching Fellows and the Civil Dialogue Faculty Teaching and Research Grants. Additionally, we are building workshops and an in-classroom program to provide dialogue skills to the campus community, as well as a Dialogue Ambassadors Program.