Public Classes in OPENDialogue™

As thinking people, we understand the vital importance of dialogue to human relations.

But well-meaning attempts to discuss differences can go wrong, increasing misunderstanding and conflict. How do we communicate effectively, so people from different backgrounds can live and work together peacefully in mutual respect?

We all know there’s a need, from offices down the street to peace negotiations in a war zone. And Dialogue Institute has moved rapidly to meet it.

How much better could our world be if more people knew more about how to talk and listen effectively to people different from themselves?

To respond to this need, the Dialogue Institute distilled our 50 year plus history into a 2.5 hour introductory course suitable for corporate and NGO settings. To pilot the course, we offered a reduced fee public course on April 30 in the suburbs of Philadelphia and then again on June 1, 2019, in Center City.

The iterations were team taught by Rebecca Mays, Len Swidler, David Krueger, Greg McCarthy, Jennifer Elam, and Rob Robinson. Jordan Iezzi supported the group with digital promotion and marketing, handouts for participants, surveys, and photography.

The word OPEN is an acronym for Open to the Other, Practice Commonality, Engage Difference, and Navigate New Horizons. The nature of an OPENDialogue™ course, whether 2.5 hours or semester-long, is that once the “O” for Open is discussed and internalized and the first exercise is completed, the group dynamic reveals what is needed for those individuals. This is why OPENDialogue™ is useful for many types of people and organizations.

This course intersects with the Dialogue Institute’s Global Ethic/Ethos training and consulting work that helps organizations use OPENDialogue™ to discover and create a Global Ethic customized to their mission and vision.

Two additional public classes will be held for Fall 2019: Monday, September 16 6-9pm and Saturday October 12 from 10 -1pm.