YEAR END RECAP: Deeper Dialogues @ UVa + A Special Thank You to the UVa Parents Program
During the past academic year, Theological Horizons hosted four events using the Reflective Structured Dialogue format designed by Massachusetts based non-profit Essential Partners.
These events would not have been possible without a generous donation from the UVa Parents Program 2022-23 grant cycle. We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to the Parents Fund Council; thank you for all you do in supporting programming for UVa students!
The first event was a virtual day-long dialogue training hosted by Essential Partners to learn how to lead discussions using their Reflective Structured Dialogue format. Students, faculty, and community members attended this training, which equipped them to facilitate dialogues around delicate issues of race and justice, as well as engage with folks they might not meet otherwise, like older community members or people with a different political background.
The next event was a virtual dialogue on Monday, November 7 titled Rituals of Hope in Seasons of Loss that began with a talk by Professor Vanessa Ochs on death rituals and practices of mourning in the Jewish tradition. This was followed by participants moving into breakout rooms where a trained facilitator guided them through questions about how they have been experiencing or struggling with grief recently.
Who could have known the tragedy that would occur at the University on November 13? Participants met for an in person lunch gathering on Tuesday, November 15 at Hotel E on the West Range. While originally this event was designed to purposefully further deepen the connections that had been prompted by the initial virtual dialogue by sharing a meal, because of the shooting that happened on Grounds, this event became an open space of grieving and support for students, faculty, and staff, whether they attended the virtual dialogue or not. Professor Vanessa Ochs led attendees through various Jewish rituals of mourning and soothing, leaving each participant with a sense of community.
The final event that we designed thanks to the Parents Program’s donation was Act Justly, Love Mercy: A Community Conversation, a companion dialogue to the 2023 Scoper Lecture featuring Bryan Stevenson. Community members and students met at UVA’s Alumni Hall on the Sunday following Stevenson’s visit, April 2, and watched a clip from Stevenson’s documentary True Justice to begin the time together. Participants then shared food in small groups while a trained facilitator led them through a discussion about how Stevenson’s words had been impacting and inspiring them. This event fostered connections between folks from across UVa and the Charlottesville communities.
Throughout the year, we also incorporated principles of Reflective Structured Dialogue into our Vintage Lunch programming with the weekly Deeper Dialogues Lab. We experimented with question structure in small break out groups as well as in a large group setting with the purpose of having students meet and get to know peers outside of their usual circles.
Feedback highlights
The funding from the UVA Parents Program covered the costs of putting on these three dialogue events, including: publicity (graphic design, poster printing, filming and creation of publicity videos), coaching and program design from Essential Partners, venue rental, food catering, and technological support. For both the fall and spring dialogues, we created anonymous pre and post evaluation surveys to evaluate the impact of the events. Overall, participants who took part in Deeper Dialogues reported very positive results:
Fall Dialogue
89% of respondents gave the dialogue a 4/4 rating
79% of respondents felt positive or hopeful about engaging with community members of different viewpoints after the dialogue
89% of respondents expressed a commitment to using future dialogue opportunities to engage across difference after the dialogue
Prior to the fall dialogue, 55% of respondents reported they strongly agree that they feel respected in their community. After the dialogue with us, this number rose to 89%.
Spring Dialogue
71% of respondents gave the spring dialogue a 4/4 rating
86% of respondents felt positive or hopeful about engaging with community members of different viewpoints after the dialogue
86% of respondents expressed a commitment to using future dialogue opportunities to engage across difference after the dialogue
Prior to the spring dialogue, 33% of respondents reported they strongly agree that they feel respected in their community. After the dialogue with us, this number rose to 71%.
Participant Responses
Participants shared feedback to the questions: What stands out as the most significant thing you are taking away from this dialogue experience? Is there anything that surprised you?
“The thoughtfulness of my discussion-mates and the wonderful and supportive space that was shared [was most significant]. I am truly grateful to have had a chance to join in the dialogue!"
"[I am] grateful for a rich dialogue [where there was] lots of learning & shared resources...As a bonus everyone in our group wanted to stay in touch after."
"I think that people (in general) in our society easily miss the value of the physicality of mourning. Our group talked about multiple ways physical mourning has been helpful to us whether through being with people or writing things down."
When asked about her experience as a facilitator during the Stevenson dialogue, one student said that “the Essential Partners training definitely equipped me to be a facilitator” of “older individuals” who had “less hesitancy to share differing opinions than there would have been if it were a group on Grounds.” She felt able to navigate a difficult conversation where people shared “opinions that I disagreed with about race and reconciliation,” keeping her newly learned skills in mind. “Overall,” she said, “everyone was respectful and thoughtful, so I thought it was a productive dialogue.”