HOSTING A DIALOGUE

The Student Civic Engagement Campaign invites students nation-wide to participate in student dialogues around service and civic engagement. We need students to host, facilitate, promote, record and report what happens. Everything you need to make this happen on your campus, and to have your voice heard nationwide through this website is located right here. Check out the rest of this site and contact us if you have any questions.

The purpose of these dialogues is to promote student knowledge, service, and action that are in keeping with the spirit of democratic action. They should be open to all interested parties, should encourage open and democratic participation and contribute to civic engagement in some clearly defined manner.

We recommend that two or more students work together on planning for and hosting dialogues. Sharing the thinking and the work is much more likely to result in a dialogue that will be successful.

We have included a number of tools that are designed to make your work easier. The tools are broken up into two sections: Logistical Issues and Facilitating a Dialogue. The Logistical Issues section deals with everything from booking a room on campus to getting your favorite faculty member to supply pizza and soda. The Facilitating a Dialogue section focuses in on the actual event and acts as a short training manual on the skills, tools, tips and tricks to promoting open and honest discourse around critical issues.

During the writing of this resource guide we tested a number of the tools included here by having dialogues around the country. We found it was useful for us to refer back to past dialogues and learn from mistakes and success. In light of this, we have included numerous Sample Dialogues for you to base your own activities on, borrow ideas from, or just to refer to during the planning process

Finally, we have included an extensive collection of activities and forms, pre-made and ready for you to use or to change to fit your dialogue or your style. All of these are here for your use and are downloadable. Please visit our Online Forms page and take what you need.