Difficult Dialogues

How to Have Difficult Conversations with Friends and Loved Ones

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Mar 2024 00:54:59 +0000

How to Have Difficult Conversations with Friends and Loved Ones Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 03/27/2024 - 18:54

Part of the CHA's Difficult Dialogues: Community Conversations series and Colorado Chautauqua's Voices at Chautauqua series.

How do we have difficult conversations with people you care about, but may disagree with? Join us for an enlightening open discussion on how to have productive conversations about controversial subjects.

Explore how a sincere willingness to listen and learn, instead of approaching tough conversations with an argumentative and persuasive effort, can transform challenging conversations. Join facilitators Jennifer Ho and Ami Dayan on March 27th (Wednesday, 6pm - 7pm) to practice having hard conversations, including on the topic of Gaza and Israel.

Event Guidelines

The Difficult Dialogue series brings together local voices to explore complex topics, fostering mutual understanding and a respectful discourse. Difficult Dialogue events aim to create a space for grappling with tough subjects that people may find difficult or uncomfortable to talk about. These events are not debates but platforms for thoughtful exchange.

Our purpose is to hold dialogues on topics considered diﬃcult, provocative, or controversial, among constituents that may have strong conflicting views. Our objective is NOT to necessarily agree, fix anything, prove anyone right or wrong, or alter anyone’s position.

We are committed to fostering productive dialogues in the hopes that minds and hearts might expand. We ask that you:

Keep an open mind
Be respectful of others
Listen with the intent to understand
Speak your own truth

We expect to experience discomfort when talking about hard things. Remain engaged and recognize that the discomfort can lead to problem-solving and authentic understanding.

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Difficult Dialogues: Reparations (3/20/2024)

Anonymous — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 13:30:28 +0000

Difficult Dialogues: Reparations (3/20/2024) Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 03/20/2024 - 07:30

A panel event to discuss various forms of reparations for historical harms.

March 20, 2024
12:30pm - 1:45pm
Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), CASE E390

�鶹ӰԺ the Event

How do we repair harm, when the harm is on a national scale?

For the March 2024 Difficult Dialogue topic, we will consider how various nations have provided reparations for systemic harm and how we can hold nations, governments, and communities accountable for it.

While the US government has made reparations to Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II, there are still some groups that have not received any form of restitution, such as to enslaved people taken from African nations or to Indigenous nations for stolen land. Other countries have provided restitution for genocide, such as the German government and businesses to survivors of the Holocaust and the Rwandan government to Tutsi survivors of the 1994 genocide. Our panelists will discuss how we as individuals can encourage and support various types of reparations for harmed communities. For additional reading materials on these topics, visit the CU Libraries Resource Guide: https://libguides.colorado.edu/ddreparations

Questions our panelists will consider:

How do we hold nations, governments, and communities accountable for systemic harm?
How do individuals engage on this scale with governments to provide restitution to groups harmed?
Closer to home, how do we at CU �鶹ӰԺ contend with land acknowledgments that address settler-colonialism when we are not giving back land?

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The Frontier of Free Speech: Are There Boundaries? (2/28/24)

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 19:42:38 +0000

The Frontier of Free Speech: Are There Boundaries? (2/28/24) Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 02/28/2024 - 12:42

The Frontier of Free Speech: Are There Boundaries?

Part of the CHA's Difficult Dialogues: Community Conversations series and Colorado Chautauqua's Voices at Chautauqua series.

Click Here For Tickets

For this second event in the series, the Center for Humanities & the Arts (CHA) and Colorado Chautauqua are hosting a community conversation about the first amendment and freedom of speech. Are there boundaries to what speech can and should be shared publicly? Are there costs to free speech?

The Difficult Dialogues series brings together local voices to explore complex topics, fostering a mutual understanding and a respectful discourse. Difficult Dialogues events aim to create a space for grappling with tough subjects that people may find difficult or uncomfortable to talk about. These events are not debates but platforms for thoughtful exchange.

We are committed to fostering productive dialogues in the hopes that minds and hearts might expand. We ask that you:

Keep an open mind
Be respectful of others
Listen with the intent to understand
Speak your own truth

We expect to experience discomfort when talking about hard things. Remain engaged and recognize that the discomfort can lead to problem-solving and authentic understanding.

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Why Don’t You Think Like I Do? Navigating the Spaces Between Us (1/31/24)

Anonymous — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 17:23:42 +0000

Why Don’t You Think Like I Do? Navigating the Spaces Between Us (1/31/24) Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 01/31/2024 - 10:23

Why Don’t You Think Like I Do?
Navigating the spaces between us

THIS EVENT IS CURRENTLY SOLD OUT

Part of the CHA's Difficult Diaolgues: Community Conversations series and Colorado Chautauqua's Voices at Chautauqua series

As we begin 2024, the Center for Humanities & the Arts (CHA) and Colorado Chautauqua are hosting a community conversation about how we form opinions, and what happens when we confront opposing views.

We are committed to fostering productive dialogues in the hopes that minds and hearts might expand. We ask that you:

Keep an open mind
Be respectful of others
Listen with the intent to understand
Speak your own truth

We expect to experience discomfort when talking about hard things. Remain engaged and recognize that the discomfort can lead to problem-solving and authentic understanding.

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Difficult Dialogues: Antisemitism and Being Jewish in the US (9/13/23)

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 17:12:30 +0000

Difficult Dialogues: Antisemitism and Being Jewish in the US (9/13/23) Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 09/13/2023 - 11:12

Antisemitism and Being Jewish in the US

This panel discussion focused on the rise of antisemitism in the last decade—a rise that some might say has never disappeared and has resurfaced with events like the march on Charlottesville, the attack on the Tree of Life synagogue, and recent comments by celebrities. This event was part of the semi-annual Difficult Dialogues event — a series of panel conversations that bring together people from on and off campus to discuss challenging issues from their own perspectives.

It is hard to know how to talk about antisemitism, and this difficult dialogue engaged with multiple topics as well as what it means to be Jewish today, especially in a multi-religious and multi-racial space such as �鶹ӰԺ county. Among the questions our panelists pondered was is: “How does antisemitism manifest in our communities today?", "Are Jews white?", "How is antisemitism different from or similar to to other forms of racism, bias, exclusion, and discrimination?", "Is criticism of Israel antisemitic?"

Event Information

Registration: https://colorado.edu/cha/dd23rsvp
Date: Wednesday, September 13, 2023
Time: Doors Open: 6:30pm | Event Timeframe: 7pm - 8:30pm
Location: in-person at Grace Commons Church, Oerter Hall: 1820 15th Street, �鶹ӰԺ, CO 80302
Flyer Download: www.colorado.edu/cha/sites/default/files/attached-files/fall_dd_print_flyer-antisemitism_and_being_jewish_09.13.2023.pdf
Event is free and open to the public. This event will not be recorded.

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Difficult Dialogues: Abortion

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 17:11:37 +0000

Difficult Dialogues: Abortion Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 03/22/2023 - 11:11

We invite you to join the conversation on the topic of Abortion at our semi-annual Difficult Dialogue series on March 22, 2023.

Register Here

What to Expect

The Center for the Humanities and the Arts and the University Libraries continue to host Difficult Dialogues — a series of panel conversations that bring together people from on and off campus to discuss challenging issues from their own perspectives.

In 2022, we witnessed the end to fifty years of legal protections for the right to abortion care as a result of the United States Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The court concluded that the constitution does not protect a right to abortion and returned the right of states to regulate abortion. Months after the case, several states have invoked total or near-total bans on abortion, the devastating social, political, and economic impacts of which we are only beginning to understand. Millions of citizens have lost access to abortion care and those already facing discriminatory barriers are disproportionately disadvantaged by the loss of this fundamental right.

This panel features individuals discussing how talking about abortion can be difficult, and how the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade makes conversation about this topic even more fraught. This is not a debate about being pro-life or pro-choice; this difficult dialogue is simply to discuss the difficulty of talking about abortion. Register here for zoom link: colorado.edu/cha/ddabortionrsvp

University Libraries Book Resource Guide

Ground Rules

We are committed to fostering productive dialogues in the hope that minds and hearts might expand and that mutual respect, understanding, and perhaps self-examination can be fostered by meeting with and listening to each other respectfully. These dialogues are meant to allow us to see each other as human. If you are going to participate, the goal is to develop the capacity of talking about hard issues with as much care for self and others as possible.

Giveaway: Free Books!

The first 15 people to register* (Register Here) as well as attend the event will receive a free copy of the book "Tiny You: A Western History of the Anti-Abortion Movement" by Jennifer Holland.

Tiny You tells the story of one of the most successful political movements of the 20th century: the grassroots campaign against legalized abortion. While Americans have rapidly changed their minds about sex education, pornography, arts funding, gay teachers, and ultimately gay marriage, opposition to legalized abortion has only grown. As other socially conservative movements have lost young activists, the pro-life movement has successfully recruited more young people to its cause. Holland explores why abortion dominates conservative politics like no other cultural issue. Looking at anti-abortion movements in 4 western states since the 1960s—turning to the fetal pins passed around church services, the graphic images exchanged between friends, and the fetus dolls given to children in school—she argues that activists made fetal life feel personal to many Americans.

*You are eligible to receive a free copy of "Tiny You" if you are one of the first 15 people to register for the event. You must attend the event for the majority of the time (45 minutes+). If you are eligible for a free copy, you may pick up your book at the Center for Humanities & the Arts (CHA) office in Macky Auditorium Room 201 (on CU �鶹ӰԺ's main campus). Office hours to pick up your copy are Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9am - 4pm. If you are unable to make that time, reach out to cu-cha@colorado.edu to schedule alternative times for pickup.

ADA Accommodation

We will work with ADA Compliance to attempt to fulfill any disability requests for ASL interpreting and/or real-time captioning for these events. Requests received less than 48 hours prior to the event cannot be guaranteed. To make a request, please email the Center for Humanities & the Arts (CHA) at cu-cha@colorado.edu.

Panelists

Christie Burkhart, Clinical Operations and Clinical Compliance Director, �鶹ӰԺ Valley Women’s Health Center
Amanda Linsenmeyer, Director of the Office of Intercultural Engagement, Center for Inclusion and Social Change, CU �鶹ӰԺ
Amanda Jean Stevenson, Assistant Professor, Sociology Department, CU �鶹ӰԺ
Moderator: Kate Kelly, Regional Lead Organizer, New Era Colorado

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Difficult Dialogues: Being Black in �鶹ӰԺ & "This is [Not] Who We Are" Film Screening

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 19:31:26 +0000

Difficult Dialogues: Being Black in �鶹ӰԺ & "This is [Not] Who We Are" Film Screening Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 10/27/2022 - 13:31

A free film screening of the "This is (Not) Who We Are" documentary and a conversation on "Being Black in �鶹ӰԺ" hosted on Thursday, October 27, 2022.

Event Information:

Registration: cuboulder.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8BLxLFqBewYXa4K
Date: Thursday, October 27, 2022
Time: 6:45pm - 9:00pm MT (film screening begins at 7pm MT)
- Film Screening: 7pm - 8:30pm MT
- Difficult Dialogue: 8:30 - 9pm MT
Location: in-person at Grace Commons Church Chapel: 1820 15th Street, �鶹ӰԺ, CO 80302
Flyer Download: This Is [Not] Who We Are - Film Screening & Dialogue flyer
CU Libraries Resources: libguides.colorado.edu/whoweare
Images from Event can be found on the CHA Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=CU�鶹ӰԺCHA&set=a.556923263101292

Film Screening:

"This is (Not) Who We Are" is a documentary film exploring the gap between �鶹ӰԺ's progressive self-image and the lived experiences of its Black citizens. The film braids the lived experiences of Black characters ranging in age from 12 to 78. Some stories are searing, while others are hopeful. The film seeks to open a space for dialogue among �鶹ӰԺites and about cities like �鶹ӰԺ, overwhelmingly white, wealthy, and conflicted about issues of diversity, inclusion, and equity. Is a more economically and racially diverse future possible, both in �鶹ӰԺ and in cities like it across America?

Difficult Dialogues:

After the film screening, there will be a group of panelists to lead a discussion about issues of race, class, and the community. This is part of the CU �鶹ӰԺ Libraries and Center for Humanities & the Arts semi-annual "Difficult Dialogue" series. The viewers are encouraged to participate in the conversation.

Panelists for the event:

Katrina Miller: Co-Director of the film, "This is [Not] Who We Are"
Carl Hofmann: Senior Associate Pastor at Grace Commons Church
Dr. Jennifer Ho: Professor, Director of the Center for Humanities & the Arts
Ami Dayan: �鶹ӰԺ-based Playwright, Director, and Performer
Dr. Thomas Windham: Psychologist, Educator, featured in film, "This is [Not] Who We Are"

Event Hosts:

This free film screening and dialogue is hosted by Grace Commons Church, �鶹ӰԺ Friends Meeting, CU Libraries, and CU �鶹ӰԺ's Center for Humanities & the Arts (CHA). This event is open to the public.

Directions:

This event is at Grace Commons Church at 1820 15th Street, �鶹ӰԺ, CO 80302. Please enter through the doors on 16th street adjacent to the chapel. There is street parking as well as a parking garage (15th & Pearl Parking Garage for $3) if you planned to drive to the event.

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Difficult Dialogues: Making Mistakes, Making Amends

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 18:25:01 +0000

Difficult Dialogues: Making Mistakes, Making Amends Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 01/25/2022 - 11:25

The Spring 2022 installment of the Difficult Dialogues series between the Center for Humanities & the Arts and University Libraries seeked to address what it means to make a mistake and then to repair the harm (unintentional or intentional) that happens when we make mistakes with our friends, peers, co-workers, family, or on social media. We sometimes use an expression that may be anti-trans, ableist, racially insensitive, sexist—sometimes without knowing or understanding. We may do things that cause others harm, and we don’t understand what’s happening until we get called out.

So what do we do when we get called out? How do we rectify the harm and move forward?

This event featured Patricia Gonzalez, Assistant Dean for Inclusive Practices; Jessica Ladd-Webert, Director of the Office of Victim Assistance; and Elias Sacks, Director of the Program in Jewish Studies. The event will be moderated by Tyler Keyworth, Assistant Director of Restorative Justice & Conflict Resolution.

This event took place on Tuesday, January 25th at 12:30pm MT. Registration was required to attend. Due to the sensitivity of this topic, we did not record this event.

The Spring 2022 installment of the Difficult Dialogues series between the Center for Humanities & the Arts and University Libraries was on Tuesday, January 25th at 12:30pm.

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Difficult Dialogues: Fall 2021

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Nov 2021 20:39:55 +0000

Difficult Dialogues: Fall 2021 Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 11/05/2021 - 14:39

The Center for Humanities & the Arts (CHA) & CU Libraries DIFFICULT DIALOGUES collaboration for Fall 2021 was on the theme of “Saying No, Slowing Down.” To that end, we are holding space for saying no to holding a formal event and practicing the theme of slowing down by simply claiming this webspace to acknowledge the difficulty of telling someone that you are too exhausted to take on additional labor and to also take time to slow down and take time for oneself.

To that end, we will use this space to share resources on saying no and slowing down, but we may be adding to it slowly.

Sincerely,

CHA & CU �鶹ӰԺ Libraries

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Difficult Dialogues: Power

Anonymous — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 15:40:30 +0000

Difficult Dialogues: Power Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 02/10/2021 - 08:40

The Center for Humanities & the Arts (CHA) and the CU �鶹ӰԺ Libraries offered the next installment in the Difficult Dialogues panel series on Wednesday, February 10th, 2021 at 12pm virtually via Zoom.

This event was meant to examine the different ways that power impacts the lives of people at CU �鶹ӰԺ and the different types of power dynamics that affect us–that make it hard to advocate for various issues and that are often difficult to talk about.

This panelists for this event included Gwendalynn Roebke, undergraduate student; Sarah Fahmy, graduate student; Chantal Baca, staff, and Erika Randall, chair and professor. The moderator was Janet Ruppert, who was also a graduate student.

This event was free and open to the public.

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