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Jess Cook
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Conversations in our classrooms and on campus this academic year can feel especially challenging in the current moment. Many of us are asking important questions right now:
- How do we facilitate class discussions when perspectives differ?
- How do we create learning spaces where all students feel they can speak authentically?
- How do we encourage dialogue across differences while also maintaining psychological safety?
A group of colleagues from the Center for Teaching Innovation (CTI), Center for Civic Engagement (CCE), Inclusive Excellence, Academic Affairs, Center for Justice and Liberation, and more are working together to help faculty and staff build strategies for engaged dialogue and deeper understanding—skills that are key to the critical thinking and collaborative problem solving we want our students to develop.
Upcoming Programming
Salem State is building capacity for a campus-wide habit of meaningful conversation and connection that is foundational to belonging and safety in our community. These interconnected and growing efforts include:
- Campus dialogue workshops: In January, facilitators from Essential Partners will lead on-campus workshops that equip a cohort of faculty and administrators with their Reflective Structured Dialogue approach.
- Faculty and staff reading group: Beginning in February, the CCE and CTI will host a semester-long reading of Relationship-Rich Education: How Human Connections Drive Success in College. CCE faculty fellow Jonathan Simmons (Childhood Education and Care) will engage participants in dialogic activities that support trauma-informed and culturally responsive relationship-building across campus. Signup details will be shared via campus newsletters in the coming weeks.
- Sustained student engagement: Campus leaders are collaborating to offer opportunities for students to build constructive dialogue skills and develop online resources that will be available to the entire campus community.
Online Resources
The following resources are curated tools from colleagues near and far to help faculty facilitate dialogue, protect themselves online, understand faculty rights, and support students.
Discussion
- What Do We Mean by “Dialogue”? - Peter T. Coleman, professor of psychology and education at Columbia University. Originally published in the Boston Globe.
Dialogic Strategies and Tools
- Cultivating Skills: Inquiry and Discourse Toolkit - Georgetown University's Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship. Offers frameworks and activities for fostering inquiry, listening, and respectful dialogue.
- Creating Safe Spaces for Hot Topics: Successfully Teaching Delicate Issues - University of Alabama's K. Patricia Cross Academy. Practical strategies for teaching sensitive or controversial subjects with care.
- Intentional Teaching: Managing Hot Moments in 2025 - Podcast episode hosted by Derek Bruff, UVA Center for Teaching Excellence. Discusses strategies for addressing “hot moments” in the classroom.
- Leveraging Norms for Challenging Conversations - Harvard Graduate School of Education. Provides thorough guidance on developing discussion norms and addressing norm violations.
- Managing Classroom Conflict - from the Ohio State University. Includes guidance on “calling in” during tense classroom moments.
- Activity Guide: Structures for Dialogue - PDF from the Constructive Dialogue Institute. Provides structures for nine quick-start classroom activities.
- Constructive Dialogue Institute Resource Library
Academic Freedom
- FAQs on Academic Freedom - American Association of University Professors (AAUP)
- Academic Freedom Field Guide - AAUP. Includes a quick-reference Academic Freedom First Aid Kit.
Doxxing
- Doxx Defense Resources | American Association of University Professors - Guidance for faculty on responding to online harassment and protecting personal information.
- Some Steps to Defend Against Online Doxxing and Harassment | American Civil Liberties Union - Actionable steps to safeguard your digital presence and respond to threats.
Caring for Our Students
- Supporting Students in Increased Times of Stress and Anxiety - CTI newsletter, November 2025
- Resources from CTI's Trauma-Informed Teaching Series, spring 2024
- Teaching in Times of Stress and Challenge - Columbia University's Center for Teaching and Learning
We’d also love to hear what’s working for faculty and staff, so we can continue learning from one another. If you have approaches, stories, or questions to share, please reach out to the CTI. Thank you for the thoughtfulness and care you bring to these ongoing conversations.