Theory and Practice of Dialogue

Dialogue methods have been used to foster everything from personal growth through better conversation to wiser decisions for deep democracy. This seminar reviews prevalent dialogue practices and the theories that help us understand them. It includes first-hand experience with a wide spectrum of dialogue practices, ranging from conversation to community organizing to public policy deliberation.

This course will allow students to:

• Gain familiarity with multiple uses of dialogue methods, their advantages and limitations.

• Demonstrate capacity to apply dialogue theory in the design and facilitation of deep dialogue practice.

Dates: Saturday, March 3 and Saturday, March 17, 2012

Times:  9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Location:  Lewis & Clark Graduate Campus, Conference Center room 115

Degree-applicable credit: CORE 501, 1 semester hour, $738

Noncredit/CEU: 15 hours, $250

Registration form (PDF)

About the Instructor

Tod Sloan, Ph.D. was trained in personality theory, counseling, and psychodynamic psychotherapy at the University of Michigan. He taught psychology at the University of Tulsa from 1982 to 2001, where he founded the Center for Community Research and Development in 1998 and served as department chair from 1999 to 2001. From 2001 to 2004, Sloan served as the national co-coordinator for Psychologists for Social Responsibility, an advocacy organization that mobilizes and equips psychologists for peacebuilding and social justice work.

Sloan is the author of two books: Life Choices: Understanding Dilemmas and Decisions and Damaged Life: The Crisis of the Modern Psyche. In these books, he develops a psychodynamic perspective on ideological processes in personal decisions and social relations. In particular, he focuses on issues related to consumerism, citizenship, and intimacy as well as on the psychosocial conditions for sustainable development and deeper democracy.