Living in a community can be challenging--especially against a backdrop of significant disagreement and polarization. Fortunately, Ohio State is lucky to have a number of dialogue facilitators who offer workshops and other training opportunities for people who are interested in having challenging conversations. Please join us for a discussion between two of Ohio State's most active dialogue facilitators, Sophia Antoun (Inclusive Excellence) and Aaron Yarmel (CEHV), which will be moderated by CEHV's Civil Discourse for Citizenship Program Director, Kathryn Joyce. This discussion will explore the types of puzzles that participants bring into Sophia's and Aaron's workshops and sessions, as well as the tools that they offer to solve these puzzles.
Speakers
Sophia Antoun
Sophia Antoun (she/her/hers) is the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Education Specialist at The Ohio State University's Inclusive Excellence unit. Sophia completed her graduate degree in International Education Development at Columbia University and her undergraduate degree at The Ohio State University. Working as an educator for over a decade, Sophia has taught both domestically and internationally to youth and adults of diverse backgrounds and identities. Her expertise lies in building the transformative skills needed for impactful equity and inclusion work, as well as educating on Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) history.
Aaron Yarmel
Aaron Yarmel is the Associate Director of the Center for Ethics and Human Values at The Ohio State University. In addition to overseeing all CEHV programs, Aaron leads its efforts on dialogue facilitation and skill building, outreach, and the ETHOS Fellows program as part of the University's Shared Values Initiative. Aaron also teaches Conversations on Morality, Politics, and Society (ARTSSCI 2400/2400E) as well as ethics courses through the Department of Philosophy. Outside of his role with CEHV, he is the Founding Director of Philosophy Counseling and Consulting: an organization that offers dialogue facilitation training and philosophical counseling in the Logic-Based Therapy tradition. Aaron’s research focuses on philosophy for children, AI ethics, social change, and two-level utilitarianism. He offers Philosophy for Children workshops through the Philosophy, Learning, and Teaching Organization (PLATO) and in collaboration with the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children. He serves on the board of directors and executive board (as treasurer) of PLATO and on the editorial board of Analytic Teaching and Philosophical Praxis. Aaron holds a PhD in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an MSc in Philosophy of Science from the London School of Economics, and a Bachelor of Music from the Eastman School of Music.
Moderator
Kathryn Joyce
Kathryn Joyce joined the Center for Ethics and Human Values (CEHV) in June 2023 as its Civil Discourse Program Director. In that capacity, she leads CEHV's efforts to connect its Civil Discourse for Citizenship program with existing student programs and other partners at Ohio State. She also teaches CEHV's 3-credit course (ARTSSCI 2400/2400E) called "Conversations on Morality, Politics, and Society," and works closely with other steering committee members on research and outreach opportunities connected to civil discourse. Joyce specializes in social and political philosophy, philosophy of education, and ethics. Previously, she was a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Values & Public Policy at the Princeton University Center for Human Values and the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs Education Research Section. She received her PhD in Philosophy from the University of California, San Diego in 2020.
