By Larry Urish, contributing writer
How’s this for ironic: We can probably agree that we’re not as agreeable as we used to be, at least when it comes to controversial topics. Unless you’ve been living under a rock — or, worse, lack internet access — you’ve likely noticed that terms such as “friendly difference of opinion” have seemingly gone the way of the VCR. Friendly conversations can quickly devolve into shouting matches far more often than in years past.
This needn’t be the case, say members of Cal State Fullerton’s Department of Human Communication Studies. People can, they maintain, share their differing opinions in a calm, mutually respectful fashion. Rather than explain how this is accomplished, CSUF staffers and students can actually show you. In fact, they already have — four times.
CSUF will do so again, online at 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9, with the fifth installment of the university’s Civil Dialogue program. Named after a method of communication that models respectful discourse among those who disagree, every Civil Dialogue forum includes five panelists who share their differing beliefs, thoughts and feelings about a controversial topic, in an atmosphere that promotes emotional balance and respect.
“I always tell my students that you’re not going to change anyone’s mind by screaming,” said event host Tara Suwinyattichaiporn (known as Dr. Tara to her students), a CSUF assistant professor of human communication studies, who brought the Civil Dialogue presentations to the campus in 2017. “Instead, step back and take a deep breath.”
Sponsored by CSUF Government and Community Relations, past Civil Dialogue presentations on campus have focused on hair-trigger subjects: immigration and the U.S. travel ban, sex-only bathroom laws, free-speech limits in the face of hate speech, and gun control.
The topic of Friday’s hourlong forum, voting integrity, will occur just 3 ½ weeks before critical elections, during one of the most divisive periods in U.S. history. Virtual attendees will be able to ask questions and provide comments online.
“The point of Civil Dialogue is to highlight the various opinions that people have and to acknowledge their beliefs and points made — even if they disagree,” Dr. Tara said. “The point of debate is to have a winner, based on arguments and facts. But Civil Dialogue doesn’t involve debating. There’s no winning or losing, no need for consensus.”
The need to model rational discourse is greater than ever, she added. “You see it every day in the media. Public figures screaming, family members shouting at each other, all the awful internet comments.”
Scott Spitzer, CSUF associate professor of political science and a panelist in Friday’s online forum, agreed. “There’s been a breakdown of civility in our conversation. On campus, students are reluctant to engage politically because of a concern that if they say something, they’ll be perceived as being offensive, and then targeted.”
“Civil Dialogue doesn’t ask a question,” said Dr. Tara, who was trained in facilitation by the methodology’s founders at the Institute for Civil Dialogue. “Rather, every forum topic is posed to the panel as a statement. Tomorrow’s statement is ‘The American voting system cannot be trusted.’ I think that trust is a huge issue that people have among each other and with the government. I wanted something related to the trust issue, and voting integrity came to mind. We’ve had gnarly topics, and this one is no different.”
The panel will be composed of one CSUF professor (Spitzer, who has served in this capacity once before), one undergraduate student and three graduate students. Each of the five panelists is given one of five viewpoints to discuss: agree strongly, agree somewhat, undecided/neutral, disagree somewhat and disagree strongly.
Dr. Tara stressed that the panel is composed of “regular people,” not experts, who have expressed interest in participating and are passionate and informed about the chosen topic. Each panelist shares his or her opinion and personal experiences, within strict time parameters. Divisive or disrespectful comments are forbidden.
Following opening comments by CSUF President Framroze Virjee and a topic-introduction talk for virtual attendees by the forum’s moderator, each panelist will give a one-minute opening statement. About 15 to 20 minutes of open dialogue between the panelists will then take place (“They’re made aware of the ‘civil’ part of Civil Dialogue; nobody hogs the mic,” said Dr. Tara) and 10 to 15 minutes are later allotted for audience participation.
Since Friday’s event is online, attendees who register via Zoom can enter questions and comments, Dr. Tara noted. Acknowledging the positive-modeling aspect of Civil Dialogue, she added, “We’ve had really passionate responses in the past — but nothing hateful.”
To register visit bit.ly/CSUFVotingIntegrity.
For more information email Suwinyattichaiporn at tsuwinyattichaiporn@Fullerton.edu.
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