Bridging Divides Through Constructive Dialogue: Our Workshop Featured in The Minnesota Daily
In a world that often feels divided, the ability to engage in constructive, respectful conversations has never been more important. That’s why we’re excited to share that The Minnesota Daily recently featured our Constructive Dialogue Workshop, highlighting the importance of fostering meaningful discussions across differences.
For years, we’ve worked with organizations, educators, and leaders to develop tools that help people communicate more effectively. Now, for the first time, we’re bringing this workshop to the public in collaboration with the Humphrey School at the University of Minnesota.
What to Expect from the Workshop:
Interactive exercises that encourage open exchange of perspectives
Practical tools for navigating challenging conversations
Frameworks to foster respectful dialogue in workplaces, classrooms, and communities
📅 Workshop Details:
Date: February 19
Location: Humphrey School, University of Minnesota
Register here: https://learning.umn.edu/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=53481795&courseTitle=constructive-dialogue-workshop
📰 Read the article in The Minnesota Daily:
https://mndaily.com/292556/campus-activities/humphrey-schools-constructive-dialogue-workshop-opens-to-the-public/?print=true
This is an incredible opportunity to learn how to build bridges, not barriers. We hope to see you there!
by Avery Vrieze
“Comedy theater company Danger Boat Productions will host a constructive dialogue workshop on Feb. 19 that is open to the public in partnership with the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs.
The workshop uses improv techniques to give participants the confidence and practical tools to navigate difficult conversations.
Previously held in August and December for first-year students and faculty members, the workshop was a way for incoming students to learn the important skill of having constructive conversations, said Humphrey School Director of Career and Student Success Rachel Leatham.
The Office of Career and Student Success aims to provide students with the skills they need to help them succeed in any working environment, Leatham said. The workshop was just one way to help students succeed and connect with others.
“At a more fundamental human level, it helps people to get along better and for students and all of our community members to connect and to deeply listen to one another, and then to find commonalities across differences,” Leatham said.
Leatham attended the workshop both as a participant and to help introduce the workshop to students.
During the August workshop with first-year students, Leatham said she observed students finding their confidence. She saw the group’s demeanor change from nervousness at the beginning of the exercise to confidence at the end.
“Because of the improv way that the workshop starts out, you automatically sort of transition into a different headspace so that you can think more creatively,” Leatham said. “It just kind of disrupts the traditional way that we think about approaching anything new.”
Tane Danger, co-creator of Danger Boat Productions, was approached by the Humphrey School to put together a workshop where students can learn tools to have better conversations.
Although originally asked to create a workshop based on students, Danger said he thought everyone could stand to practice how they speak, listen and ask questions. The workshop then expanded to faculty and now to the greater University community.
“Almost from day one, we felt and recognized that this was something that would be very valuable in that space,” Danger said. “But then in a lot of ways beyond that as well, because these are good tools and good ways of thinking for just about anybody who is going to interact with other humans in their life.”
Danger, a graduate of the Humphrey School’s Master’s program, said incorporating improv and the arts into public policy and how others engage with each other is something he wrote about for his capstone paper.
He is also pursuing it now through his work at Danger Boat Productions.
“This is something that I’ve been thinking about for 10 years, of ways that the arts and specifically improv are valuable in the ways that we train students,” Danger said.
Students and faculty have told Danger the workshop helps them think differently about how to engage with people and gives them the tools to do so.
By allowing the public to take part in this workshop, Danger said he hopes anyone can take part in learning tools to have better conversations with people of different backgrounds and perspectives.
“We can all think of family dinners or backyard barbecues where we thought, ‘I don’t know exactly how to have this conversation with someone, they’re really coming at this from a different point of view than me,’” Danger said. “This workshop is built to help with that, as much as it is with the professional or academic ways of thinking about it.””