Conducting Challenging Conversations

Nov. 4

11:00 am–12:15 pm
Zoom

Learning involves adjusting or correcting one’s prior knowledge and embracing new ideas and frameworks. This can be a particularly fraught experience for students when they consider issues of identity, social change, or social differences. In this session, we will discuss the benefits and struggles associated with having these kinds of difficult dialogues and consider some strategies for creating conditions to have productive conversations. Approaches for dealing with the unexpected will also be shared. Goals for participants:

  • Identify useful moments for conducting challenging conversations
  • Adopt three strategies for creating conditions to have a challenging discussion 
  • Gain familiarity with a framework to cope with unexpected difficulties

This session is open to all UChicago instructors. It will be led by Cheryl R. Richardson, PhD, Director of Inclusive Teaching Excellence at Adler University. Cheryl is a former member of the University of Chicago's Chicago Center for Teaching.