MSU Dialogues Online: Connecting Humanity through Conversation Even at a Distance

January 11, 2021 - Briana Bohannon

MSU Dialogues provides a unique opportunity for the MSU community to have conversations about issues that impact our community. It is one space for community members with different backgrounds and perspectives to be able to share their narratives and challenge the dominant narratives within our society. We each have our truths, which inform how we navigate the world, but those are not the only true experiences. Dialogues allows for the opportunity to find shared language for those truths and space to uncover some of the uncomfortable realities that come with them.

This is one opportunity to engage in continuous learning with individuals across functional areas and utilize the wealth of experiences we have to move our work forward. A participant in MSU Dialogues states, “Getting to know people at MSU who I would never have the opportunity to meet was fantastic. The facilitators for the faculty group I was in were incredible humans and very, very good. I am completely impressed with this program.”

Hosting dialogues in an online space has created a way to connect and see others’ humanity even while we are apart. Being vulnerable allows for discomfort and growth to occur. In eight weeks, participants challenge themselves to name and unlearn some of the dominant narratives that they have been exposed to throughout their life. This unlearning and relearning is supported throughout the MSU Dialogues curriculum, but is ultimately driven by the participants' own needs to inquire about the ways that they engage with the world:
“The course expanded my awareness of bias, privilege, intersectionality, and race in a way that was approachable and safe, yet challenging. It forces you to see things you either haven't seen in the past or reframes the way you may have seen things. That process has moments of discomfort, but it is done in a way that encourages and recognizes the discomfort without judging you on the discomfort. It encourages growth and knowledge on the topic of race and leaves you wanting to continue in your journey for greater understanding and dialogue” (Fall 2020 Participant).

At the end of a dialogues session, and especially at the end of the program each semester, one common thread amongst participants and facilitators alike is the discovery of more concerns than we have solutions to. Participants will often bring a scenario that they are navigating to the group, and added workshops for best practices. This adds some reprieve from damaging systems and reaffirms the need for the MSU community to actively engage in continuing dialogue outside of this formal space.
“The current situation not just in the US but around the globe requires us to engage in continuous dialogue and action if we really want to make fundamental changes. This starts right from early education right to college levels. As faculty, before we teach students we need to really examine our internal landscape and shift our myopic worldviews before we can truly be role models to our students. So these dialogues are crucial to all MSU faculty and administrators” (Fall 2020 Participant).

This learning opportunity is best for those who are ready to immerse themselves in deep dialogue, share personal experiences, and listen to others. MSU Dialogues is a time and energy commitment where participants are tasked with challenging the dominant narratives that impact our community and institution at large. Learn specific details for the application process.