Getting to We: Why Dialogue Matters in Higher Education

In this talk entitled, "Getting to We: Why Dialogue Matters in Higher Education," Patricia Romney, President and founder of the consulting group Romney Associates, explores the importance of dialogue in higher education suggesting that the mission of higher education is to "build the intellectual aptitudes and the experience of engagement with others as well as the affective orientation that fosters the building of a better world, a world in which we can finally get to we."

This video comes from the conference Inviting Dialogue: Renewing the Deep Purposes of Higher Education put on by Clark University's Difficult Dialogues initiative. The conference brought together eighty faculty, administration, and staff from New England colleges and universities and professional dialogue practitioners to discuss the role of dialogue in renewing the deep purposes of higher education, including civic engagement, exchanges across differences, critical thinking and reflection, and creative problem solving.

Previously on Words That Matter we brought you video of Dave Joseph's address at the conference.

We're excited to also present this video of Patricia's keynote address:

Watch Part 2 and Part 3 of Patricia's talk on our YouTube Channel.

Also check out this response to Patricia's talk by Public Conversations Project Senior Associate Maggie Herzig.

May 26, 2010