This 2011 book, edited by Roger A. Lohmann and Jon Van Til, focuses on how public deliberation and group discussion can strengthen the foundations of civil society, even when the groups engaged in debate share a history of animosity. Scholars have begun to study the dialogue sustaining these conversations, especially its power to unite and divide groups and individuals. The twenty-four essays in this collection analyze public exchanges and the nature of sustained dialogue within the context of race relations, social justice, ethnic conflicts, public-safety […] (continue)

Written by NCDD director Sandy Heierbacher to expand upon the text on our “What Are Dialogue & Deliberation?” page. This resource provides enough details to enable you to decide which of these leading dialogue and deliberation methods you should learn more about. In addition to looking at which methods fit your intentions, you will need to consider which methods are aligned with your resources, timeline, and the people you feel need to be involved. The text below is drawn from NCDD’s Engagement Streams Framework. AmericaSpeaks […] (continue)

The theme for Arsalyn’s 2007 annual youth conference, which took place in D.C. August 9-12, 2007, was “Bridging the Partisan Divide: Rediscovering Deliberation,” and NCDD was proud to play a major role at the event. Arsalyn invited 150 young people ages 16-20 to the 2007 conference to learn the art of political deliberation. This event is part of a series of conferences geared toward helping young people – especially politically active youth – develop skills that will help them communicate effectively with those of opposing […] (continue)

At the 2008 National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation, we focused on 5 challenges identified by participants at our past conferences as being vitally important for our field to address. This is one in a series of five posts featuring the final reports from our “challenge leaders.” Inclusion Challenge: Walking our talk in terms of bias and inclusion. What are the most critical issues of inclusion and bias right now in the D&D community and how do we address them? What are the most critical […] (continue)

Harold Saunders, former Assistant Secretary of State and negotiator of the Camp David Accords and now Director of International Programs at the Kettering Foundation, distills over 35 years of experience working with conflicts across the globe. This book describes how sustained dialogue can help conflicting groups of citizens move toward resolution. (continue)

BeComing is an unscripted documentary which offers a rare opportunity to witness what transpires in the privacy of women's circles. The ten women filmed are multi-cultural and cross-generational, with an age span from thirty to eighty. BeComing takes an experiential look at a woman's circle and the women who create it. By joining their circle over a two-year period, we see first-hand what it is to build and be a part of a community, a part of our society which has been lost to some of us. The women speak of their process of creating and sustaining circle, as well as the effects of the circle in their daily lives. (continue)

This site provides a plethora of links to articles, books and information about and by David Bohm, a well-respected contemporary physicist whose contributions to science and philosophy include a kind of free-form, sustained dialogue. (continue)

The Sustained Dialogue Campus Network (SDCN) is a project of The International Institute for Sustained Dialogue (IISD). In 1999, students began using a unique process called Sustained Dialogue (SD) to proactively improve race relations on college campuses. A network of Sustained Dialogue practitioners has since formed, connecting students at over a dozen colleges, universities, and high schools across the country. This network, called the Sustained Dialogue Campus Network, represents a budding social movement of passionate students deeply engaged in changing the dynamics of their campus climate. (continue)

Fielding's School of Human and Organization Development is a global community of lifelong learning professionals who place a premium on student and faculty interaction through mentoring and dialogue, both face-to-face and online. The program offers distance learning doctoral degrees and online masters degrees. The School of Human & Organization Development currently offers three Continuing Education Certificate programs: the new 16-week Dialogue, Deliberation, and Public Engagement Certificate, the Online Facilitation Certificate, and the Evaluation and Organization Development Certificate. (continue)

An 11-page how-to brochure of principles, rationale, guidelines, and answers to often-asked questions about Sustained Dialogue. This freely downloadable PDF document was prepared by the Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group of San Mateo, California, which has been going strong for over a dozen years and has inspired many other Jewish-Palestinian living room dialogues to launch across the country. (continue)