The Power of Dialogue to Change Campus Cultures

Posted on January 11th, 2019

This free (encore) webinar will explore how dialogue is able to bring about change in how we understand and interact with each other and why this is so important in addressing complex issues on campuses today. Designed to support the Changing the Culture of Substance Use project, this webinar will nonetheless be of interest to anyone attentive to promoting healthy campus cultures. This is the first webinar in a three-part series. Webinar 2 will look at planning and facilitating dialogue and Webinar 3 will look at the challenges and fears around dialogue. Presented by the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR).
 

Why is dialogue so relevant to campuses? 

Dialogue offers the potential to

• break down silos on campus and create opportunities for diverse stakeholders to come together including staff, administrators, faculty, and students
• facilitate student (and other stakeholder) participation in institutional decisions related to health and well-being
• deepen the conversation around a wide variety of complex topics such as mental health, substance use, sexual violence, etc.
• reduce echo-chamber thinking by exposing people to diverse perspectives
• enhance our ability to communicate with senior administrators and leaders on campus around issues related to health 
• humanize topics that are rife with assumptions and stereotypes
• be a health 'education' tool
• make it easier to identify barriers to action or implementation

Learning Objectives

After the webinar, you will:

• better understand the principles and purpose of dialogue to build community capacity around complex health and social issues, such as mental health, alcohol and other substance use, sexual violence and smoking
• learn the benefits of nurturing dialogue within an organization, campus or other community setting
• learn how to ask good questions about complex topics that spark deeper conversation

Presenters

Dan Reist

Dan leads a team at CISUR, based in Vancouver, that focuses on communicating current evidence in a way that supports the evolution of effective policy and practice. With a background in continental philosophy and hermeneutics, Dan is quick to acknowledge that evidence is far more than statistics about patterns of use and harm and includes attention to the ways we experience and talk about drugs and drug use in our cultures and communities

Kristina Jenei

Kristina is a Research Assistant with CISUR and a part of the Institute's knowledge mobilization team. Kristina’s work focuses on engaging communities in dialogue about drugs and drug use. She currently coordinates a national project that involves connecting provincial stakeholders and community groups with resources to help them bridge divides between people with varied perspectives on cannabis and cannabis policy.

Watch the webinar >>>

Download slides >>>