CEHV’s Civil Discourse Graduate Research Associate, Jamie Herman, was interviewed on the connection between education and peacebuilding by the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Global Engagement at Ohio State’s College of Education and Human Ecology as part of their International Day of Education newsletter.

In the interview, Herman spotlights her work facilitating the ‘Dorm Dialogues’ program with CEHV’s Associate Director, Aaron Yarmel:

"In a bi-weekly program I run as part of my role with Ohio State’s Center for Ethics and Human Values, a colleague and I facilitate “Dorm Dialogues”: an open dialogue conversation where undergraduate students can discuss the questions that arise from living in the community. Attendees of these dialogues share how cathartic it is to share their experience with other students and to hear that students in different years, with different living situations, face similar problems. They give each other tips on navigating conflict, and as facilitators, my colleague and I help them explore the ways civil discourse tactics could be used to address disagreements with their roommates. Though their puzzles may seem trivial at first, through these dialogues, we’ve created a community where students explore their puzzles, practice articulating their frustrations, and brainstorm strategies to tackle these problems."

On the topic of education for peacebuilding, Herman discusses the ways creating communities of dialogue on campus invites participants to identify shared problems. As a dialogue facilitator through CEHV and an educator, Herman speaks about the role educators play in fostering collective growth in the skills of civil discourse and conflict resolution. 

“When students come to my office hours, host evening events with their student organizations, and carry on a conversation with a classmate after class, I see their desire to solve problems in the community. When classrooms and educational spaces can serve as an invitation to engage with one’s peers about something that keeps you both up at night, we, as educators, are building the skills of peacebuilding by inviting students to share their puzzles with one another.”

Read the full interview.

Learn more about CEHV’s Dialogue Facilitation Work.