An integrative university is a place of rich conversation. Valuing conversation, we can better understand excellence as an emergent property of a community, rather than a property isolated in individuals. Such conversations foster a collaborative environment for sharing ideas, resources, and deeper questions. When we imagine the kind of learning we ourselves might most want to do, most of us probably imagine a conversation with a mentor or thinker who can inspire and challenge us to move beyond where we now stand. The chair of the department is well positioned to convene the departmental community for conversations that matter.
Conversations comprise the soft pulse of a community, a signal of vitality.
Attention to this pulse is, at root, attention to the learning capacity of the departmental community. Encountering Conflict Conflict is fundamental to our experience, yet we tend not to be well practiced in its constructive use. Our tradition of collegiality often leads us to avoid or deny conflict. When conflict does come out in the open it often takes the form of egocentric jousting that produces a winner and a loser, but no deeper collective understanding. The ways in which conflict is handled can manifest the spiritual health of a department.