Community Engagement & Leadership

Community Dialogues seek to cultivate connection and deep learning through exploration of critical and contentious issues. This series is focused on providing space for participants to practice the skills of dialogue and deliberation.  We hope to engage in dialogue which:

• Deepens understanding of and advances complex thinking on critical issues and the tensions within them
• Encourages insight into different perspectives
• Creates connection between participants through their stories and experiences
• Facilitate intergroup connections and cultivate community
• Guides exploration of personal ethics, morals, and values  
• Inspires socio-political action, both individual and collective
• Allows participants to practice and cultivate dialogic skills

Community Dialogues is an initiative offered in partnership by Community Engagement & Leadership, the Office of Institutional Diversity, and University Housing & Dining Services - Diversity Initiatives & Programs.

Register Here!

During the 2023-2024 academic year, Community Dialogues took on a Story Circle format. 

Story circles are often understood as deriving from Indigenous traditions that develop a practice for community telling and listening projects. Story circles allow participants to share stories from their own experience or imagination as individuals in a small group. Stories that are shared follow a prompt that relates to the theme of the Community Dialogue. Learn more about story circles.

What are Dialogues By Request? 

Dialogues are one of the many immersive events CEL offers and is aimed to provide students a space to engage with one another in conversation. Dialogues By Request is an extension to our traditional Community Dialogues events and is offered by request to student organizations & clubs, fraternity & sorority chapters, departments, classes, staff teams, and other groups within the OSU community. 

We offer a variety of dialogic formats and encourage a consultation with one of our staff members in order to identify the best format fit for the conversation you wish to have. Please make sure you have read the website information in its entirety before proceeding to request a dialogue. 

The two most commonly-used dialogue formats are story circles and fishbowl. If you would like to implement another format or would like to know more about our other formats, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. 

What can Dialogues NOT be used for? 

While dialogues are a space meant to facilitate discussion amongst lived experiences, it will NOT be a space for argument or debate. Many of the stories and experiences shared during these sessions are taken from a personal perspective and are reflective of individual experience. Please hold respect for yourself and others within the space by practicing active listening and allowing students their full amount of time to share. 

Dialogues are a space that welcomes and encourages vulnerability. However, it CANNOT be a replacement for psychological services. If you or someone you know are in crisis or you would like to speak to a professional, please visit the CAPS webpage for more information. 

If you are interested in having CEL host a dialogue with your students or group, please fill out the form below.  For preparation and planning purposes, please submit your request at least two (2) weeks in advance.

Dialogues by Request Form