OSU-CHS Launches Four-Year Initiative to Teach Listening, Reflection, and Empathy in Civic Conversations

Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences received nearly $4 million from the U.S. Department of Education to develop Witnessing Before Deliberating, a testimony-based framework for civil discourse that emphasizes emotional readiness before dialogue. Led by Dr. Matt Vassar with partners including the Kinder Institute, Listen First Project, and National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation, the four-year project will feature a 70-foot traveling Witness Wall across five campuses, allowing students to share, hear, and reflect on testimonies. The speaker-listener-witness model trains students to speak from experience, listen deeply, and reflect empathetically, building skills for respectful engagement and complex discussions. The initiative advances NCDD’s mission by grounding civil discourse in emotional and relational readiness to foster democratic participation and academic growth.

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Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences has received a nearly $4 million FIPSE Special Projects grant from the U.S. Department of Education to develop a testimony-based framework for strengthening civil discourse on college campuses. The project, titled "Witnessing Before Deliberating: A Testimony Based Framework for Campus Civil Discourse," will be led by Dr. Matt Vassar, clinical assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and director of the Office of Medical Student Research at OSU-CHS, in partnership with the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy, Let's Fix This/Oklahoma Civic Engagement Table, Listen First Project, National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation, Oklahoma Oral History Research Program, and OSU Center for the Humanities. The initiative aims to help students learn how to engage seriously and respectfully with one another by focusing first on emotional readiness through structured testimony and listening rather than beginning immediately with debate or deliberation.

The project's core innovation is the speaker-listener-witness model, which trains students to speak from personal experience, practice deep listening without interrupting, and reflect on conversation dynamics with empathy and awareness before moving into traditional dialogue and deliberation formats. This approach recognizes that responsible civic engagement requires foundational skills in slowing down, recognizing complexity, and engaging others with respect, even amid disagreement. The centerpiece of the four-year initiative will be a 70-foot traveling installation called the Witness Wall that will move across all five OSU campuses, providing space for students to record testimonies, listen to others' stories, and contribute short reflections that collectively become a visual narrative of campus perspectives. The project design emphasizes making civil discourse practical, visible, and institutionally grounded rather than treating it as an abstract skill-building disconnected from students' lived experiences.

The testimony-based framework has particular relevance for health professions education, where students must develop the capacity to listen deeply to patients, colleagues, and communities during difficult conversations. By prioritizing listening and reflection as core leadership competencies, the project aligns with OSU's land-grant mission of service and public engagement while supporting academic success, professional readiness, and healthier campus relationships. The initiative will span development and piloting, campus deployment, and national dissemination of results, with the Witness Wall built and tested early so it can travel to campuses as implementation begins. This innovative approach to civil discourse training demonstrates how institutions can create structured experiences that help students build practical skills for navigating disagreement without escalating conflict while strengthening their sense of responsibility to listen carefully, speak thoughtfully, and recognize their role in shaping civic culture.

To learn more about Oklahoma State University's testimony-based civil discourse project, visit https://news.okstate.edu/articles/health-sciences/2026/osu-chs-awarded-us-dept-education-fipse-grant-civil-discourse.html