First Round of NCDD2023 Workshops Announced!

​The workshops are a core part of the National Conference on Dialogue and Deliberation. We have two blocks of concurrent sessions daily, and this year will have over 60 sessions in total. The overall schedule can be found at ncdd.org/2023schedule.html.

Below is an alphabetical listing of the first round of sessions. More sessions will continue to be added, and in the coming days the schedule of workshops (dates, times, locations) will be shown on the conference workshop page at: www.ncdd.org/2023workshops.html.

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Act Before You Think - Using Drama to Uncover the Issues
Beginner
August Boal was one of the first to use dramatic technique aligned with Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, to break the “fourth wall” of dramatic performance and invite the audience into the play space as co-creators of potential solutions to issues of injustice. So many times, the issues we chose to bring to dialogue are embedded in the cultural bodies of the participants, and invoked feelings seek physical as well as mental expression.  Participants will experience and learn a series of introductory theater exercises that lead into issues work in a Boalian dramatic space.  The group will choose and work through a social issue through this technique, having the facilitation modeled by the instructor,  then debrief with a discussion about the possible applications of this work as a precursor or tool for social justice dialogue.

Michael Wallace - Associate Professor & Regional Specialist; Washington State University ​

Addressing the Rising Threats to Democracy in Our Work
All Levels
What if the critical threat to democracy right now is the rise of authoritarianism--not polarization? If that’s the case, how might we shape the work of D&D to counter this threat and recommit to the growth of a healthier, egalitarian, and pluralistic democracy? This working session will engage participants in openly sharing and exploring some of the concerns and challenges for addressing this core question. Participants will collaboratively interrogate the basic principles and assumptions for democracy-promoting D&D work, including the questioning of “neutrality,” especially in light of the rising radicalization against democracy. 
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Participants will work together to share and co-develop different practical approaches and strategies for positively addressing these rising threats. These approaches would include an affirmative (non-neutral) set of D&D principles that embrace the vision, values, and practices necessary to sustain an egalitarian and pluralistic democracy. Such approaches would aim to move beyond the focus on polarization, superficial neutrality, or “both-sides-ism” that is increasingly insufficient to meet the challenges of this moment.

​Eve Daniel Pearlman - CEO; Spaceship Media
Jeff Prudhomme - Vice President; Interactivity Foundation

Building Capacity through our Work: Facilitative Leadership
All Levels
As members of our NCDD community of practice we engage in the crucial work of helping people engage productively in talking and thinking together in ways that promote understanding of and deliberation and collaboration to address challenging campus, community, and organizational issues. But we also do more than this – we enact and model Facilitative Leadership – an approach to Leadership that focuses on capacity building. Jeffrey Cufaude articulates this as “building the capacity of individuals and groups to do more on their own now and in the future.”
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In this session we will explore what Facilitative Leadership is, why it is a crucial mindset and set of skills in today’s world, and how we can cultivate Facilitative Leadership in ourselves and others. A second, related NCDD sponsored session will introduce the emerging NCDD Certification in Facilitative Leadership, and encourage participants to help shape this initiative.
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Lori Britt - Professor and Director; James Madison University Institute of Constructive Advocacy and Dialogue
Joa'Quinn Griffin - Student; University of Indiana Political and Civic Engagement Program​
Lisa-Marie Napoli - Director and Senior Lecturer; University of Indiana Political and Civic Engagement Program
Tzofnat Peleg-Baker, PhD. - Head of Strategy, Conflict Resolution and Mediation Center; Israeli Ministry of Justice​
B. Rae Perryman - Development Associate; National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation

Democracy-Makers: The Arts as Acts of Citizenship
​All Levels
While often thought of as an aesthetic experience or entertainment, the arts are innately political. Their multi-sensory and diverse forms express the breath of human experience and support creative inquiry into how we live and govern ourselves. As democratic “acts of citizenship” available to everyone, art questions how the world is organized and opens up possibilities for change. Art-makers can be democracy-makers who publicly confront challenges such as authoritarianism, polarization, and voter suppression. During this session we will look at some examples and then discuss how the arts can become part of how participants affirm and advance democracy. 

Joni Doherty - Senior Program Office for Democracy and the Arts; Kettering Foundation
Brad Rourke - Director of External Affairs and DC Operations; Kettering Foundation

Dialogue for Healing: Truth and Reconciliation in the U.S.
Intermediate
Truth and reconciliation commissions (TRCs) have operated in dozens of countries over the last 50 years but have only come to the U.S. within the last 20 years, and in relatively few numbers.  Now, several communities across the U.S. are utilizing the model to explore issues ranging from systemic racism and racial inequities to challenges for law enforcement and beyond.  In this session, you'll get an inside look at an active U.S. TRC from its facilitators, a guide to understanding TRCs, and a chance to try your hand at creating a TRC and working through tough decisions.

​V Fixmer-Oraiz - Co-facilitator; Iowa City Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Eduardo Gonzalez - Convener; ThinkPeace Learning and Support Hub
Larry Schooler - Senior Director; Kearns & West

Facilitating Democracy from Campus: The Role of Colleges and Universities and their Students in Supporting Local Dialogue and Deliberation
All Levels
Faculty, staff, and students connected to several on-campus centers and institutes that serve as local resources for deliberative civic engagement will reflect on their work, how they incorporate students, and how they collaborate with the community. Materials and resources will be shared. The session will be geared both to those on campuses interested in supporting the work, as well as those off campus hoping to collaborate with their local colleges and universities.

Chris Anderson - Director; Wabash College Democracy and Public Discourse 
Jennifer Borda - Professor and Co-Director; University of New Hampshire Civil Discourse Lab
Graham Bullock - Faculty Director; Davidson College Deliberative Citizenship Initiative
Martin Carcasson - Director; Colorado State University Center for Public Deliberation
Windy Lawrence - Director;  University of Houston Downtown Center for Public Deliberation
Nicholas Longo - Professor; Providence College 
Lisa-Marie Napoli - Director and Senior Lecturer; University of Indiana Political and Civic Engagement Program
Timothy J. Shaffer - Stavros Niarchos Foundation Chair of Civil Discourse; University of Delaware

Facilitation as an Organizing Strategy: Using Dialogue and Deliberation as a Tool for Advocacy
​All Levels
Though dialogue and deliberation practitioners take seriously the imperative for principled impartiality, scholars studying deliberative systems have begun to identify the ways that deliberative principles might be implemented in other methods of engagement, such as advocacy and interest group organizing. Over the past five years, the Center for Public Deliberation at Colorado State University has developed new public programming aimed at helping historically excluded communities understand, express, and act in relation to their interests as well as new models for linking advocates to deliberative decision making. In all of these programs, facilitation plays a key role, with the CPD helping to train community leaders in facilitation and working with them to organize conversations within their own communities. 
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This session will explore three case studies that provide different mechanisms for utilizing facilitation as a tool for community organizing, offering insights for how facilitation may be used to better center public voice in interest identification, advocacy, and collective action. In addition to offering our own insights, we will ask session participants to discuss the ways that their own practices intersect with more advocacy-based forms of public work and collectively create a set of values and guidelines that practitioners of dialogue and deliberation might utilize when practicing in these spaces.

Katie Knobloch - Associate Director; Colorado State University Center for Public Deliberation
Sabrina Slagowski-Tipton -  Managing Director; Colorado State University Center for Public Deliberation

Freedom Fortnight: An Emergent Opportunity for Dialogue Practitioners to Address the Nation’s Struggle to Produce a Unifying National Narrative
All Levels
Freedom Fortnight is the period between Juneteenth Freedom Day and July 4th Independence Day - both permanent national holidays.  This period is two weeks, i.e. a fortnight.  Freedom Fortnight is a term that a number of geographically disparate and disconnected social change advocates are coalescing around as they attempt to leverage this interregnum as a time for collective celebration, reflection and dialogue about the nation's messy past and common future. 
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This session will review the broad potential for the change makers can use Freedom and Independence - both deeply American values that are similar but not identical - to provide an umbrella organizing framework for useful dialogue across divides based on ideology, race, orientation, and other often intractable divisions. This workshop will illustrate the way that these concepts can be used as a way of highlighting the underlying dilemmas that all humans face when confronting unfairness; in addition, the workshop will review existing activities from around the country and provide an opportunity for participants to do facilitated visioning of how they might leverage Freedom Fortnight for productive activities in their own communities.

David Campt, PhD. - Founder & President; The Dialogue Company

Gaining Insight Through Mindfulness, Systems Thinking, & Dialogue
Advanced
In this session, participants will learn about various mindful meditation practices and engage in a couple of those practices. Participants will also gain an overview of systems thinking and participate in an exercise that emphasizes various aspects of systems thinking. The facilitator will then weave together how mindfulness and a systems perspective are complementary processes that can enhance the effectiveness of dialogue. The session will culminate with a dialogue about how to integrate mindfulness and systems thinking into our dialogue practice.

Marty Jacobs - Transformative Change Consultant; Social Impact Consulting

Harnessing the Power of Narrative Storytelling for D&D: Lessons from Podcasting and Beyond    
Beginner​
Think about the connection you feel listening to podcasts or watching documentaries with a strong storytelling focus. Narrative media provides an opportunity for people to share their stories on their own terms and for the people who hear that story to develop a meaningful connection to the people telling it. However, not everyone doing D&D work has the media skills necessary to create long-form narrative projects. This session will cover the nuts and bolts of how to approach narrative work and why you should consider adding it to your organization's strategy.

John Biewen - Director of Storytelling and Public Engagement; Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University
Jenna Spinelle - Communications Specialist; Penn State McCourtney Institute for Democracy

Is There a Role For Artificial General Intelligence in National-Scale Dialogue and Deliberation Practices?
​All Levels
Can artificial general intelligence benefit civic dialogue, or will it erode democracy? How might dialogue practitioners use AI right now, and in the future? This session will explore how emerging artificial intelligence tools might responsibly distill themes from participant input, identify alignment or differences of opinion, support people to consider ideas different than their own, and build - or deteriorate - trust among people. In this interactive session, we will imagine together how to make engagement activities more insightful and responsive.
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Duncan Autrey - Founder and Host, Omni-Win Project​
Susanna Haas Lyons - Civic Engagement Specialist; Simon Fraser University
Tzofnat Peleg-Baker, PhD. - Head of Strategy, Conflict Resolution and Mediation Center; Israeli Ministry of Justice
John Spady - President; Forum Foundation and the National Dialogue Network
Scott Vineberg - Founder & CEO; PeoplePower.tv

Lessons for Dialogue Facilitators from Wounded Healers: Resilience, Trauma Healing, Violence Interruption and Aikido
​All Levels
In trauma healing they say: hurt people hurt people. Unhealed trauma is directly connected to cycles of violence (physical and verbal). Almitra Gasper, a trainer for the NYC Violence Interrupters, Rashan "Tank" Brown, a violence interrupter and founder of GangstasGivingBack, Rachel Goldberg, a Peace and Conflict Studies professor and Brian Blancke, Associate with Essential Partners and Aikidoka have worked together for several years connecting trauma, mental well being, and reducing violence. They will share skills for Multidimensional nourishment (skills for building internal resilience), not just medicine (skills for crises) to build resilience for dialogue designers and facilitators.

Brian Blancke - Associate; Essential Partners
Rashaan "Tank" Brown - NYC Violence Interrupter & Founder of GangstasGivingBack
Almitra Gaspar - Coordinator of Trainings and Staff Development; NYC Health Department
Rachel Goldberg, PhD. - Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies; Depauw University ​

Let’s Reset with Kindness: How Kindness-Informed Dialogue Can Reshape Society
​All Levels
With the crisis of loneliness and isolation posing one of our generation’s greatest challenges, the “power of kindness and compassion” is just the antidote we need. International Expressions of Kindness involved 45 countries worldwide, helping establish caring communities of children, parents, educators, college students, faculty, and others. Acts of Kindness Maine is a statewide initiative fostering kindness among individuals, communities, businesses, public institutions, and government. Join us to explore how kindness can be a superpower drawing people to beneficial dialogue; imbuing communities with a sense of belonging; and fostering compassionate leaders of all ages. Take a deep dive into kindness!

Jeff Edelstein - Founder; Acts of Kindness Maine
Amy N. Spangler, MA Ed. - Educational consultant and learning facilitator
Tatyana V. Tsyrlina-Spady, PhD. - Project Director; International Expressions of Kindness

Partners in Conversation and Community: Creating Regional Networks for Dialogue & Deliberation 
Advanced
Have you ever felt alone in your dialogue and deliberation efforts? Regional networks are one strategy for creating a community of support. Join members of the Southern Deliberative Democracy Network (SDDN) for a discussion on how regional networks can encourage shared learning and spark creative collaboration among dialogue and deliberation practitioners. SDDN members will briefly share what they’ve learned together in exploring Southern challenges to and opportunities for deliberative democracy. The session will also feature an in-depth conversation on strategies for convening and facilitating regional networks for dialogue and deliberation practitioners.

Mandy Baily - Florida Sea Grant Living Shoreline Program Assistant & Facilitator; University of Florida
Cristin Brawner - Founder; Southern Deliberative Democracy Network & Cristin Brawner LLC
Hollie Cost -  Assistant Vice President, University Outreach & Public Service; Auburn University
Herman Lehman - Partner & Community Coach; Keys to the City Community Coaching, LLC

Pathways & Roadblocks: Building Momentum for a Dialogic Campus
​All Levels
College campuses have become more polarized, dysfunctional, and divided than ever— but it doesn't have to be that way. For 30 years, Reflective Structured Dialogue (RSD) has helped educators, students, administrators, and leaders build classroom and campus cultures where tough topics can be discussed with dignity and honesty, where community resilience allow a campus to navigate divisive events, where all students feel they belong regardless of their identities, perspectives, or values. Essential Partners has developed effective models both for classroom teaching and co-curricular engagement, which work hand-in-hand to transform the larger campus culture.

In this interactive presentation, participants will hear stories and research from several different campuses who are unlocking the potential of their campus community by weaving RSD into every corner of campus life and teaching. Faculty and administrators will share their roadblocks and stuck places, as well as strategies and pathways that build momentum. With those stories and data as a starting point, participants will identify their own roadblocks and will workshop pathways for building momentum for a dialogic campus. Participants will leave with a better sense of what might work on their own campus and one to two next steps.

Jill DeTemple - Academic Associate; Essential Partners & Professor, Southern Methodist University
Meg Griffiths - Director of Programs; Essential Partners
Kevin Minister - Assistant Director of Shenandoah Conversations, Shenandoah University
Sarah Stroup - Director; Davis Collaborative in Conflict Transformation, Middlebury College

Processes for Intragroup and Affinity Conflicts
All Levels
Almost all groups have internal conflicts, and sometimes these conflicts mean that they can accomplish less together. The Sustained Dialogue Institute seeks to bridge divides through a dialogue process, and has had to increasingly provide tools and methods for advocacy and affinity groups since 2016. In this interactive session we will look at a few recent case examples, and share a conflict analysis tool others can use to bridge internal relationships. Internal strife is often considered private, awkward, and even "dirty laundry" that group members can't talk about publicly. This workshop is meant to bring these divides into focus in the hopes of increasing the NCDD network's ability to bolster the power of advocacy and affinity groups.

Rhonda Fitzgerald - Executive Director; Sustained Dialogue Institute

Seeing the Whole Picture As a Blind Facilitator - Lessons That Transform Your Impact
​All Levels
Jeremy Grandstaff is a blind person who’s been facilitating large scale change for 22 years. Whether working with clients to design collaborative meetings or working on long-term, engaging, change journeys, he has worked with the sighted public using a collaborative change and facilitation process that could be seen as challenging for a blind person. 

In this workshop, he'll share powerful insights that he has learned, which will help you better connect, empower, and enable participants to own action going forward. Participants will gain: Increased understanding of successful facilitation and meeting design techniques; Insights that strengthen facilitation approach for better results and increased ownership; and Real-Time learning and practice activities to reinforce the techniques learned.

Jeremy Grandstaff - Collaboration & Organizational Consultant

Sustainable Connections: Building an Undergraduate Student Facilitators Network
​All Levels
What would it take to create a national network of undergraduate student facilitators? Drawing on this framing question, our interactive session will describe our efforts to build a student facilitator network and then invite our audience to become participants in sharing strategies for how to make such a network sustainable. 

Over the past year, our team hosted two virtual summits for undergraduate student facilitators. These summits focused on helping students to reflect on their experiences as facilitators and to inspire meaningful connections across campuses. Our initial observations suggest that students long to be part of something bigger than themselves and value the opportunities to connect with like-minded peers. We also learned that while students would agree that they work as facilitators, some aren’t likely to refer to themselves as facilitators because they feel too young and inexperienced. Many of us who work in this field view undergraduate students as a huge gift to solving community problems and so this finding reveals a sizable disconnect between how effective students are as facilitators and how they feel a lack of ownership in that role. 

After a brief reflection on this work, we will shift to a series of small group discussions in different formats so that we can learn from the community. What do students, staff, and faculty want to see in a reflective, connective network? How might colleges and universities incentivize students, staff, and faculty to maintain cross-campus collaborations? And, ultimately, how might this network equip a generation of students to envision themselves as life-long facilitators—in their work, neighborhoods, and communities?

Deborah Dunn - Director; Center for Dialogue and Deliberation, Westmont College
Marla Kanengieter - (recently) Chair, Department of Communication Studies; St. Cloud University
Lisa-Marie Napoli - Director; University of Indiana Political and Civic Engagement Program
Rachel Rains Winslow - Director, Faculty Development; George Fox University

Thinking Outside the Branch: Dialogue as a Tool to Reconnect
​All Levels
When the pandemic briefly closed the doors of The New York Public Library’s 92 locations, library patrons had their connection to a core public service, and each other, interrupted.  During this time, community conversations continued as a core programming tool, and helped to shape our understanding of the need for new approaches to community engagement. The subsequent creation of a new Community Outreach and Engagement office (COE) is part of a strategy to rebuild and reinvigorate the library’s focus on community partnerships.

NYPL’s community conversation programming is an ever-evolving model for connecting and (re)connecting with communities through authentic and meaningful dialogue.  Join the Library for an interactive discussion on how we have adapted our dialogue and conversation programming to engage diverse audiences, forge meaningful local relationships, and reinvigorate the impact of our community outreach.

Lauren Deering - Coordinator of Civic Engagement Programming; The New York Public Library
Anita Favretto - Director, Community Outreach and Engagement; The New York Public Library

Visual Practice Skills for Dialogue and Deliberation
All Levels
Graphic recorders and graphic facilitators are often called on to participate in dialogue and deliberation contexts. But do we know how to best work with them and how to use some of their methods even if we cannot involve them in our work? This session will introduce the practice and skills that are part of visual practice. We will show examples, learn some basic sketching skills for posters and templates, and discuss ways to continue to develop skills.

Philip Bakelaar - President; International Forum of Visual Practitioners and the IFVP Institute
Martha McGinnis - President & Founder; Visual Logic, Inc.
Julie Stuart - Founder & CEO; Making Ideas Visible 
Brian Tarallo - Managing Director; Lizard Brain