This semester the Honors Program is again offering Race Dialogue Circles as part of the Community Wide Dialogue project sponsored by the InterReligious Council of Syracuse. Each Race Dialogue Circle is a small mixed group of students from different ethnic backgrounds, including both honors students and non-honors students, who meet for at least 7 sessions of 2 hours each. Each Dialogue Circle is led by a diverse team of two facilitators who stimulate and moderate the discussion by asking questions, identifying key points, managing the group process, and generally providing structure for dialogue. The process builds trust through exercises that emphasize common ground, then leads to honest discussion of issues that affect this community.
Participants learn how to be allies and how to work together to address racism.
They will start meeting on January 22 and run for seven weeks. Students will need to attend each of the seven sessions, read the thought-provoking assigned articles, and commit to participating in this honest dialogue of how we truly feel and how we can truly change. You are welcome to sign up for credit for participating in a Circle, which we would encourage you to do. One of the exciting outcomes of the Race Dialogue Circles on campus was the formation several years ago of a new student organization, Point Zero , dedicated to eliminating racism on campus. That organization has been meeting and planning a number of events intended to foster increased understanding on campus.