Facilitating Change through Intergroup Dialogue Social Justice Advocacy in Practice

In order both to prepare for an increasingly diverse society and to help students navigate diverse learning environments, many institutions of higher education have developed programs that support student learning and competencies around inter- and intra-group relations. Facilitating Change through Intergroup Dialogue: Social Justice Advocacy in Practice traces the impact of Intergroup Dialogue (IGD) courses on peer-facilitators who delivered Skidmore College?s IGD curricula over a five-year period. Through a series of in-depth qualitative interviews and auto-ethnographies, this book explores how former IGD facilitators are applying what they learned to their personal and professional lives three to five years post-college. By exploring facilitators' application of IGD skills, understanding of social justice, and the challenges inherent in this work, Facilitating Change through Intergroup Dialogue offers concrete strategies for supporting undergraduate students in their enduring efforts towards justice.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Contextualizing Intergroup Dialogue (IGD) Facilitation

1. Introduction: The Power of Dialogue

Kristie A. Ford

2. Skidmore College as a National Leader: Institutional Context and Methods of Inquiry Kristie A. Ford

Part 2: IGD Facilitator Reflections

Higher Educational Institutions

Preface to the Auto-Ethnographies

Kristie A. Ford

3. On Becoming a Social Justice Advocate

Victoria K. Malaney

4. Social Justice in Action and Inaction

Sarah Faude

Schools, Non-Profits, and Community Organizations

5. Learning the Meaning of True Advocacy

Teshika R. Hatch

6. Interrogating Privilege

Luna Malachowski Bajak

7. Toward a New Operational Paradigm for Social Justice

Stephen A. Bissonnette

Synthesizing Patterns: Developing as Advocates for Change

8. Communicating Differently Post-College: An Analysis of IGD Skills and Outcomes

Heather J. Lipkin and Kristie A. Ford

9. Working Towards Social Justice Advocacy

Kristie A. Ford and Heather J. Lipkin

10. A White Male’s Post-College Reflections on Race, Resistance, and Social Change Kristie A. Ford

Part 3: Beyond IGD Facilitation

11. "I Wouldn’t be the Person I Am Without IGR": Implications and Conclusions

Kristie A. Ford and Heather J. Lipkin

12. The Dialogue Continues: The Future of IGD

Stephen A. Bissonnette and Victoria K. Malaney

Kristie A. Ford is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Intergroup Relations Program at Skidmore College, USA.