The Interactivity Foundation partnered with the National Building Museum (NBM) to train summer camp councilors how to use IF’s interactive small group exploratory discussion method in their upcoming summer camp. Lauren Wilson, Teen Programs Manager at the NBM, invited us to do the training. She envisioned thoughtful exploratory discussions as a part of their summer … Read more »
discussions, National Building Museum, Summer Camp, teens
A colleague asked me if I might be interested in participating in the April 2018 national Week of Conversation and might I also be interested in organizing a “gun discussion”? It seemed natural enough to respond affirmatively to the first question, but I had a number of reservations about the second question. Over the last … Read more »
Conversation, Guns Owners, Laws
IF’s co-venture to build an integrated online partner supported by a network of civic organizations has made some important strides of late: The organization was formally incorporated as “EnCiv”, but will do business as “CivNet”. CivNet will be the public-facing name of both the organization and platform. The old name, “USATalk”, is being retained in … Read more »
CivNet, USATalk
For the second summer, we met online with several faculty members who are teaching their courses using IF’s discussion method and/or discussion guides. We began by talking about IF courses that were taught in the 2017-2018 academic year, but then focused on questions and concerns about upcoming IF courses. This hour-long discussion took place online … Read more »
Courses, discussions, Haverford College, Lebanon Valley College, Newport University
There were 24 sophomores enrolled in the fall 2017 Open Futures (O.F.) course at Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania. The students were drawn from a wide variety of undergraduate majors and were there to fulfill part of the general education requirements; “Open Futures” was one of three courses that composed the “Open Minds” connective experience… … Read more »
IF has recently trained youth leadership teams in using IF’s small group discussion method for Youth Creativity Summits in New York and D.C. Loree Goffigon is the organizer of these summits. Here we would like to share with you her wonderful description of these summits. It’s with overwhelming excitement and appreciation that we write … Read more »
creativity, NYC, summit, Washington DC, youth
What makes a “home”? What different values come to mind when you think of “home”? What goals or purposes might we target when we think about housing? These are some of the questions that spurred a lively discussion with staff at the National Building Museum. The discussion, facilitated by IF Fellow Natalie Hopkinson and IF … Read more »
As a follow up to the Youth Creativity IF Discussion Training at the Joan Mitchell Foundation in NYC, IF Fellow Ieva Notturno and IF Vice President Jeff Prudhomme led two days of training for youth interested in participating in a similar Youth Creativity Summit in DC. Like the training in New York, this workshop was … Read more »
creativity, wesleyan, youth
The Diversity and Inclusion Discussions (DID), a joint project between Wesleyan College and the Interactivity Foundation, provided an opportunity for students to use the IF process to discuss issues they see as relevant to diversity and inclusion. At the conclusion of the program, a diverse group of 22 participating students provided feedback on their experience in … Read more »
