News
Measuring Emotional Charge in Collaborative Discussion
Tools for supporting critical feeling Dear collaborative discussion friends, This time we are sharing an activity that helps to gauge the emotional charge of a discussion. By examining the feelings that participants bring to a discussion, we create space for self...
The Role of Values in Collaborative Discussion
Understanding ourselves and others Dear collaborative discussion friends, This time we are highlighting two activities that help to identify personal and shared values. The activities examine how values show up in discussions and how they are prioritized...
Truth & Democracy in America – a Community Conversation Series
How is truth important for a healthy democracy? What are the sources for getting and testing the truth? Where and how do untruths threaten the health of democracy? And what can we do, as a society and as individuals, to meet these challenges? In this series we’ll...
Just Imagine…Reaching for the Stars
Annie Jump Cannon was born in 1863. Her mother excited her about the stars and encouraged Annie to pursue an education in mathematics and sciences. Annie lost most of her hearing at a young age, but that did not stop her. She earned a degree in Physics and...
Expanding Thinking with Metaphors
Using metaphors as a way to enhance or “unstick” a discussion Dear collaborative discussion friends, This time we are focusing on an activity that can be used to help “unstick” groups. Sometimes groups need creative interventions or stimulants to help move past...
Building on the Ideas of Others
Practicing "yes, and..." Dear collaborative discussion friends, This time we are highlighting an activity that is designed to help groups establish a more collaborative (and less competitive) atmosphere through building on the ideas of others. This activity...
Setting the Stage for Collaborative Discussion
Harvesting what we already know about collaborative experiences and empowering groups to create collaborative guidelines Dear collaborative discussion friends, Welcome to the Collaborative Discussion Project Newsletter. In our first newsletter, we highlighted two...
Just Imagine…Connecting Threads
Daryl Davis was born in 1958. His dad was a U.S. State Department Foreign Service officer. As a result of his dad's service, Daryl grew up living in various countries and was comfortable in a variety of cultures. When he returned to the U.S. at age 10, Daryl was...
Preparing for Collaborative Discussion
Pre-program surveys Dear collaborative discussion friends, We are kicking off the new year with our first Collaborative Discussion Newsletter, highlighting a new Collaborative Discussion Toolkit activity each week. We have heard your feedback! Our open source...
Just Imagine…Experience, Knowledge, and the Marginalized
Sometime in the late 1600s or early 1700s, an enslaved man was brought to America from a region in west Africa now called Ghana. He was presented to Cotton Mather, a Puritan minister and thought leader in colonial Massachusetts, as a gift from his congregation....
