Hot Topics, Cool Heads: A Handbook for Civil Dialogue
Edition: 1
Copyright: 2018
Pages: 120
Edition: 1
Copyright: 2018
Pages: 120
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There is a crying need for civility in our world. From families disagreeing at Thanksgiving tables to the halls of Congress, civility is in short supply. Most people can easily point to daily examples of incivility, but most people are unable to define “civility” or recognize what it looks like, much less practice it.
Hot Topics, Cool Heads: A Handbook for Civil Dialogue, written by the founders of the Institute for Civil Dialogue, traces the lack of civility in our society, defines what it is from a communication perspective, then identifies the characteristics of a civil communicator and outlines the importance of civil listening. It then introduces the format of Civil Dialogue®, a method for people to present many sides of hotly contested issues. Through spontaneously participating in an audienced dialogue, participants are lead through a facilitated conversation by taking a position on a provocative statement. Civil Dialogue features a semi-circle, where people who strongly agree and strongly disagree must face one another, while those who somewhat agree and somewhat disagree sit next to them, with a neutral or undecided participant completing the semi-circle. A trained facilitator opens the dialogue by asking for brief opening statements, then allowing the participants to freely discuss their thoughts and feelings while following certain “rules of civility.” The audience is then asked for comments and questions before participants give closing statements, followed by a summary of the entire dialogue by the facilitator. By modeling civility, participants learn to understand different perspectives as they give voice to their own positions. These skills of a civil communicator can be used in conversations where people vehemently disagree with one another, without the goal of advocacy, but to enhance understanding. Through this understanding comes a greater foundation for democracy. Civil Dialogue can be used in a variety of contexts, so people need not fear having conversations about politics, religion, or sex. The necessary fundamentals of Civil Dialogue are included in the appendices.
Foreword
About the Authors
CHAPTER ONE: The Need for Civility
CHAPTER TWO: The History and Theory of Civil Dialogue
CHAPTER THREE: The Civil Communicator
CHAPTER FOUR: Civil Listening
CHAPTER FIVE: Creating a Civil Dialogue Event: The Necessary Framework
CHAPTER SIX: The Role of the Audience in Civil Dialogue
CHAPTER SEVEN: The Art of Facilitation
CHAPTER EIGHT: Applications of Civil Dialogue
APPENDIX A: Civil Dialogue Placards
APPENDIX B: Sample Provocative Statements
APPENDIX C: Sample Civil Dialogue Program
APPENDIX D: Sample Civil Dialogue Host Introduction
APPENDIX E: Sample Civil Dialogue Facilitator Opening Statement
APPENDIX F: Sample Civil Dialogue Facilitator Tracking Sheet
John Genette is president of Black Mountain Communications Inc. and serves as Civil, Critical & Creative Communication Research Fellow in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University. As a graduate student at ASU, he wrote the research paper that set forth the concept of Civil Dialogue. He has presented Civil Dialogue at national conferences and was a founding director of the Institute for Civil Dialogue, serving as its first president.
Clark D. Olson is a professor in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University where he has taught for 34 years. He incorporates Civil Dialogue into his argumentation and public speaking classes and has presented Civil Dialogue at conferences nationwide. For 15 years he was the Director of Forensics at ASU, where he coached a nationally successful debate team. From that experience, he articulated the value of Civil Dialogue as distinct from debate, acknowledging a wide variety of opinions instead of arguing polar opposites. He is a founding director of the Institute for Civil Dialogue and currently serves as its president. Clark has published over 40 articles and book chapters and was recognized with the Golden Monograph award in 2005 from the National Communication Association for the best article in the discipline of communication.
Jennifer Linde is a senior lecturer in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University, artistic director of The Empty Space (Theatre), and an active member of the I-4C (Civil, Critical, Creative, Communication) research collective at ASU. She engages Civil Dialogue as a pedagogical tool in performance studies classes, has developed courses in civil communication, and facilitated Civil Dialogue events in public and educational contexts since 2004. She has presented Civil Dialogue at national conferences and panels, and is a founding director of the Institute for Civil Dialogue.
We live in increasingly divided societies with high levels of incivility in public discourse. This is evident in many areas, from intense partisanship in politics to name calling in social media and even daily interactions. Equally worrisome is the tendency to retreat to our own tribes, avoiding contact with those with different ideas. The problem is that, as the saying goes, “where everybody thinks alike, nobody thinks very much.” In this context, there is a pressing need for spaces and processes that facilitate respectful and insightful conversations, especially about controversial topics. Civil Dialogue has a proven record of generating these conversations in different settings, from college classrooms to community centers, using a creative yet simple process. I have attended a few of them and was always impressed by the quality of the deliberation. Hot Topics, Cool Heads, by John Genette, Jennifer Linde and Olson Clark, is a perfect read for all those who are interested in promoting civil dialogue in their community.
Daniel Schugurensky, 2017 Professor, Arizona State University, School of Public Affairs and School of Social Transformation
Guns are one of the most divisive issues in America, the debate is passionate, heated and polarizing. The goal often becomes to win arguments instead of finding solutions. Several years ago, the board of Arizonans for Gun Safety made a strategic decision to stop debating the issue of gun violence and start having real dialogues about this national epidemic. We became trained Civil Dialogue Facilitators and incorporated these techniques into our advocacy work to build consensus for policy solutions that will reduce gun deaths and injuries. This new approach has been transformative for our organization and a national model for other gun violence prevention groups.
Geraldine Hills Founder Arizonans for Gun Safety
I have had dozens of occasions to use the Civil Dialogue® method in a variety of situations and venues. The results are always interesting and productive. The ability to help passionate, strong opinioned people to discuss difficult subjects is critical in our effort to restore civility in society. The real power is when dogmatic attitudes change in the course of the Civil Dialogue.
Russ Charvonia Past Grand Master of Masons in California 2014/15 and leader of the Masonic Family Civility Project (MasonicCivility.org)