20,000 Dialogues

20,000 Dialogues is a nationwide campaign to bring people of different faiths together using films about Muslims to stimulate discussion and promote understanding. It brings the concept of interfaith dialogue into the hands of ordinary people who want to make a positive difference. 20,000 Dialogues is a Unity Production Foundation (UPF) project in cooperation with Connecting Cultures, LLC.

Resource Link: http://www.20000dialogues.org

Arizona State University - Intergroup Relations Center

The IRC provides education and training opportunities to students, faculty, and staff as well as intergroup conflict prevention and mediation services. It sponsors retreats, workshops, seminars, and institutes for faculty, staff and students, and collects, develops, and disseminates educational resources and data on discrimination, hate crimes, and intergroup conflict incidents at ASU.

Resource Link: http://www.asu.edu/provost/intergroup/

Bridging the Racial Divide

Paul Martin Du Bois and Jonathan Hutson, The Center for Living Democracy. Brattleboro, VT: Center for Living Democracy, 1997.

Includes lessons, tips and success stories from 65 intergroup dialogues across the country, plus an annotated reading list of resources. Although this book is no longer available and the Center for Living Democracy has closed its dorrs, it was one of the first books to provide best practices from race dialogues in the U.S. Published at the time of President Clinton's Initiative on Race.

Community Dialogue Guide: Conducting a Discussion on Race

The Community Relations Service of the U.S. Department of Justice, 2003.

The Community Relations Service assists communities with crisis management and violence reduction. Their user-friendly Community Dialogue Guide includes sections on the characteristics of community dialogues on race, steps in organizing a dialogue, the role of the dialogue leader, a sample small group dialogue, and more.

Resource Link: http://www.usdoj.gov/crs/publist.html

Community Relations Service

CRS, an arm of the U.S. Department of Justice, is a specialized Federal conciliation service available to State and local officials to help resolve and prevent racial and ethnic conflict, violence, and civil disorders. CRS helps local officials and residents tailor locally defined resolutions when conflict and violence threaten community stability and well-being.

Resource Link: http://www.usdoj.gov/crs

Community Resource Manual

Richmond, VA: Hope in the Cities, 1997.

This manual taps into the powerful grassroots movement to heal racial division through community-based dialogue. Focuses on a proven process emphasizing honest words and effective action by teams of people of all races, many faiths and diverse political views. Offers case studies and specific principles that can be adapted by dialogue organizers to meet local needs.

Resource Link: http://www.hopeinthecities.org

Cross Cultural Conflict Resolution

Birgitt Williams.

The Genuine Contact program's "Cross Cultural Conflict Resolution" meeting format was designed to create the conditions for the people involved in a conflict to really solve the conflict. In developing this approach to conflict resolution, they followed the philosophy that deep within all persons are some things that are universally the same - although the individuals involved are usually fixed in one perspective and rarely ask each other genuine questions. They also tend to lose contact with their whole selves, rendering a part of themselves voiceless. From this position, they are unable to participate fully and effectively in efforts to resolve the conflict....

Dialogue Guide and Workbook for "Afraid of the Dark"

Gwendolyn Grant and Jim Myers.

Gwendolyn Grant of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City created this dialogue guide and workbook to accompany Jim Myers' groundbreaking book "Afraid of the Dark: What Whites and Blacks Need to Know About Each Other." According to Grant, "Afraid of the Dark defines with such clarity and simplicity so many of the issues that have created this gulf between blacks and whites. It brings to the forefront the stuff that we talk about within our black and white circles, but seldom, if ever across the color line." Grant distributed this 12-page resource during her well-received workshop at the 2006 NCDD conference in San Francisco.

Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/Grant-AfraidOfDark.doc

Dialogue, Conflict Resolution, and Change: Arab-Jewish Encounters in Israel

Mohammed Abu-Nimer. Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1999.

Through a critical examination of Arab and Jewish encounter programs in Israel, the book reviews conflict resolution and intergroup theories and processes which are utilized in dealing with ethnic conflicts and offers a detailed presentation of intervention models applied by various encounter programs to promote dialogue, education for peace, and democracy between Arabs and Jews in Israel.

Face-To-Face at Arm's Length: Conflict Norms and Extra-Group Relations in Grassroots Dialogue Groups

Amy S. Hubbard. Human Organization. Fall 1997, 56:3., 1997.

Research has shown that internal relations in small groups are affected by members' relationship to the external world and the extent to which groups focus their efforts on extra-group relations. This article describes the conflict norms used to manage intra-group relations by members of a grassroots dialogue group in the U.S. whose members - US Jews, Palestinians, and others - came together to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Faith & Politics Institute

The Faith and Politics Institute is a non-partisan, interfaith organization which fosters community and conscience in and among U.S. political leaders. The Institute works with members of Congress who want to involve citizens in discussion and action on race in their home districts.

Resource Link: http://www.faithandpolitics.org

Healing the Heart of America

Hope in the Cities/MRA Inc., 1993.

In June 1993, citizens of Richmond, Virginia - the former capital of the Confederacy - initiated "Healing the Heart of America: an honest conversation on race, reconciliation and responsibility." Joined by people from 50 cities around the US and the world, they gave recognition to unacknowledged sites and events in the 370-year history of black-white relations. This award-winning documentary is the story of their walk through Richmond history. The film provides clear direction and inspiration for those working to unite their community through dialogue.

Resource Link: http://www.iofc.org

Hope in the Cities

Launched in 1990 in an effort to bring political, business and community leaders together in Richmond, Virginia to address racial healing, Hope in the Cities has sponsored conferences drawing international participation, has developed dialogue guides to foster conversation in communities and has spawned reconciliation efforts in several other cities. Hope in the Cities is a project of Initiatives for Change.

Resource Link: http://www.iofc.org/en/programmes/hic/

Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington

IFC brings together the Bah'ai, Hindu, Islamic, Jewish, Latter-day Saints, Protestant, Roman Catholic and Sikh faith communities in the Washington, DC region in order to increase understanding, dialogue and a sense of community among peoples of diverse faiths from different races and cultures, and to address issues of social and economic justice in defense of human dignity.

Resource Link: http://www.ifcmw.org

Intergroup Dialogue in Higher Education: Meaningful Learning About Social Justice

Ximena Zúñiga, Biren (Ratnesh) A. Nagda, Mark Chesler, Adena Cytron-Walker, Editors. ASHE Higher Education Report, Volume 32.4, February, 2007.

This volume outlines the theory, practice, and research on intergroup dialogue. It also offers educational resources to support the practice of intergroup dialogue. Addressing faculty, administrators, student affairs personnel, students, and practitioners, this volume is a useful resource for anyone implementing intergroup dialogues in higher education.

Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/ASHE324Flyer.pdf

Intergroup Dialogue: Deliberative Democracy in School, College, Community and Workplace

David Schoem and Sylvia Hurtado. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2001.

A comprehensive overview of intergroup dialogue which includes 12 in-depth case studies, critical perspectives and the foundation of dialogue in democratic theory. Each of the case studies, which are drawn from leading organizations in the dialogue field, present the program's rationale, an account of its successes, and evaluation data.

Intergroup Dialogues: An Educational Model for Cultivating Engagement Across Differences

Ximena Zuniga, Nagda Ratnesh & T.D. Sevig. Equity & Excellence in Education, Volume 35, 1, 7-17, 2002.

Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group of San Mateo, CA

Len and Libby Traubman have been organizing Jewish-Palestinian dialogue in the San Francisco Bay area for over a decade. Their website features a 'how to' page on initiating Jewish-Palestinian dialogue groups, as well as many great articles and links. The Traubmans have spawned many similar, yet diverse groups in the Bay area, and their ideas have spread into new cities and campuses.

Resource Link: http://traubman.igc.org/dg-prog.htm

Light in the Shadows

Shakti Butler (Producer/Director). Oakland, CA: World Trust.

Light in the Shadows is a frank conversation about race among ten women who participated in the ground-breaking video The Way Home. These American women of Indigenous, African, Arab, European, Jewish, Asian, Latina and Mixed Race descent use authentic dialogue to crack open a critical door of consciousness. What lies behind it is a perspective on race that is often unseen/ unnoticed within the dominant culture. With clear language, open hearts and a willingness to engage - even when it gets hard - these women travel over roads that demonstrate why valuable discourse on race is so laden with emotion, distrust and misunderstanding. Light in the Shadow is a springboard for critical self-inquiry and inter-ethnic dialogue.

Resource Link: http://www.newday.com/films/Light_in_the_Shadows.html

National Conference for Community and Justice

With more than 55 regional offices in 32 states and Washington D.C., NCCJ facilitates community and interfaith dialogues, provides workplace consultations, youth leadership development, seminar and educator training. Its nationally recognized research in the study of intergroup relations reflects the organization's abiding commitment to help to build an inclusive society.

Resource Link: http://www.nccj.org