Constructive Dialogue for Faculty

Classes 

• The University and the Student, Nicole Hoyer (Director of State Relations, ASPIRE
• Community Health Nursing-A, Katy Gilb (Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing)
• Community Health Nursing-B, Katy Gilb (Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing)
• Diversity and Cross-Cultural Management, Darryl Rice (Associate Professor, Department of Management) 
• Well-Being and Thrive: Disability Access at Miami, Anastashia Blesi (Assistant Director, Miller Center for Student Disability Services) 
• Introduction to Art Education-A, Stephanie Danker (Associate Professor, Department of Art)
• Introduction to Art Education-B, Tracy Haynes (Faculty, Department of Art)
• College Chemistry, Ellen Yezierski (Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence and Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry)
• Strength Through Cultural Diversity, Bennyce Hamilton (Regional Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiatives and Deputy Title IX Coordinator, College of Liberal Arts and Applied Science) 
• Introduction to Managerial Accounting, Eric Marinich (Associate Teaching Professor, Department of Accountancy) 
• Gateway to Global Health, M. Cameron Hay-Rollins (Professor and Chair, Department of Anthropology & Global Health Research Innovation Center) 
• Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Role Seminar II, Jennifer Rode, (Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Nursing Programs, Department of Nursing) 
• University Studies 101 Courses - Regionals, Monica Rothe (Academic Success Coach, Tutoring and Learning Center)
• ACES Program, Keisha Norris (Asst. Director of Advising and Student Initiatives, College of Engineering and Computing)
• UNV101-Art, Mary Rogero (Chair & Associate Professor, Department of Architecture and Interior Design)
• EDL110 A/B/C - HawkFit, Mike Arnos (Senior Director, Programs and Academic Partnerships, Miami Recreation) and Erin Jennings (Associate Director of Fitness, Miami Recreation)
• GER252: The German Jewish Experience, Joseph O’Neil (Associate Professor, Department of German, Russian, Asian, and Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures) 
• CJS233 - Free Speech: Crime, Campus, Cops, Daniel Hall (Professor, Department of Political Science) 

Academic Departments and Divisional Partners

• ASPIRE
• Department of Nursing, College of Liberal Arts and Applied Science 
• Department of Management, Farmer School of Business 
• Miller Center for Student Disability Services, Student Life
• Department of Art, College of Creative Arts 
• Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, College of Arts and Science
• Department of Accountancy, Farmer School of Business 
• Department of Anthropology, College of Arts and Science 
• College of Engineering and Computing
• Department of Architecture and Interior Design, College of Creative Arts 
• Miami Recreation, Finance and Business Services 
• Department of German, Russian, Asian, and Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures, College of Arts and Science 
• Department of Political Science, College of Arts and Science
• Farmer School of Business, Ryan Family Scholars and Passport Program

Event information coming soon! To learn more about our programming visit our Events Calendar.

If there is a dialogue-based event you are interested in collaborating on, we invite you to reach out to OTIE@MiamiOH.edu so we can connect and discuss opportunities for collaboration.

Constructive Dialogue uses a blended learning approach, which includes both online courses and in-person peer-to-peer conversations to practice what has been learned. At Miami, we have Track 1 and Full Perspectives as options for students to participate in constructive dialogue. The online courses are all housed on the Constructive Dialogue Institute website, in which faculty partners are provided an account and information on how to navigate it as an instructor. 

Constructive Dialogue at Miami has two options: Track 1 or Full Perspectives. Track 1 primarily centers behavioral science concepts that help students to understand the necessary mindset for constructive dialogue across differences. This program is shorter and only entails a 1.5 hour time commitment. Full Perspectives is a robust offering that explores psychological concepts to understand how the brain processes information during conflict and learn practical skills for engaging in dialogue, while using real-life scenarios and interactive activities. This option is a 4.5 hour time commitment but provides a stronger foundation for developing dialogue skills. Students who complete the Full Perspectives option (i.e. 6 online courses, 3 peer-to-peer conversations) will receive a certificate at the end of the semester (fall and spring). There is also a Graduate Student Constructive Dialogue Certificate, with similar parameters for completion. The breakdown of components for both options is outlined below:

• Track 1: composed of two online courses (30 minutes each) and a peer-to-peer conversation (30 minutes), for a total time commitment of 1.5 hours. 
• Full Perspectives: composed of six online courses (30 minutes each) and three peer-to-peer conversations (30 minutes each), for a total time commitment of 4.5 hours. 

In July 2023, Constructive Dialogue Institute launched a new initiative - Faculty/Staff Constructive Dialogue Certificate - to support campus partners, like Miami University, in its capacity-building efforts. The certificate program includes six online courses that cover the major concepts and strategies developed by constructive dialogue, with faculty and staff in mind through real-life scenarios and interactive activities. If you are interested in participating, you can join this new opportunity by creating an account and completing all the courses - Faculty/Staff Certificate. 

Current Partners

• University Communications and Marketing, DEI Committee 
• IT Services, DEI Committee
• Miami Recreation, Staff Team

As part of the Office of Transformational and Inclusive Excellence (OTIE) strategy for embedding Constructive Dialogue at Miami, there has been intentional thought put into partnering with faculty. Faculty are at the forefront of developing students’ communication skills and career-readiness at Miami. The pre-built content in Constructive Dialogue can be a valuable tool in the classroom, to provide common language and easily accessible virtual content for students. The tools and strategies provided through the program can be leveraged by faculty to facilitate difficult conversations, provide students with skills they can use in their internships/practicums, and develop leadership skills for the rest of their life. Constructive Dialogue also supports our students’ career-readiness skills based on the National Association of Colleges and Employers Competencies: communication, critical thinking, equity & inclusion, leadership, professionalism, and teamwork. 

If you would like to incorporate Constructive Dialogue into your course, we invite you to fill out our CD Course Development Form to share some points of information so we can begin the process of working with you. Once the form is submitted, within 3-4 business days you will receive an email from an OTIE staff member with more information on next steps and how to navigate the Constructive Dialogue Institute platform as an instructor. 

Faculty are also encouraged to schedule an Inclusive Excellence Consultation, with OTIE, if you would like to learn more about the program and explore ways of embedding it into your curriculum or co-curricularly. Consultations can be 15-30 minutes, and offer faculty a space to strategize with an OTIE staff member in considering the best ways of leveraging constructive dialogue content and resources.

M. Cristina Alcalde, Ph.D. (she/her), Vice President for Transformational and Inclusive Excellence and Professor of Global and Intercultural Studies 

Cristina Alcalde is Vice President for the Office of Transformational and Inclusive Excellence. She also holds an appointment as professor of global and intercultural studies. In her role as vice president, she provides strategic vision and leadership for a holistic, coordinated approach to inclusive excellence for faculty, staff, and students. Prior to joining Miami, she served as Associate Dean of Inclusion and Internationalization in the College of Arts and Sciences and Marie Rich Endowed Professor in Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Kentucky, where she also designed and directed the Online Graduate Certificate in Diversity and Inclusion. As a scholar-practitioner, she has published widely and speaks nationally and internationally on inclusion, race and racialization, gender violence, migration, exclusion, belonging, and leadership. In addition to journal articles and chapters, her books include Dismantling Institutional Whiteness: Emerging Forms of Leadership in Higher Education (2022); #MeToo and Beyond: Perspectives on a Global Movement (2022); Familia, exclusión y racismo de la peruanidad: la tía Eliana (2022); Peruvian Lives across Borders: Power, Exclusion, and Home (2018); Provocations: A Transnational Reader in the History of Feminist Thought (2015); La mujer en la violencia (2014); and The Woman in the Violence: Gender, Poverty, and Resistance in Peru (2010). Recent shorter pieces on women in leadership positions, re-envisioning leadership in higher ed, and women of color and burnout have appeared in Inside Higher Ed and Ms. Magazine. She is co-editor of the Navigating Careers in Higher Ed Book Series and Editorial Board Member of the Political and Legal Anthropology Review. When not working, she enjoys spending time with her family and their two cats.

Dana Cox, Ph.D. (she/her), Professor of Mathematics, College of Arts and Science

I am a Professor of Mathematics Education at Miami University in the Department of Mathematics. My work in mathematics education is centered on documenting the mathematics of others and writing curriculum to expose the mathematical thinking of students and teachers for use in instruction. I am an advocate for the use of empathetic methodologies, such as Narrative Inquiry, that give voice to research participants, document lived experiences, and provoke us all to question what we have previously believed to be true. Most of all, I work to position teachers as knowledge generators and people from whom we can learn.

• Examine and discuss discipline-specific research and literature on facilitating and incorporating constructive dialogue in the classroom.
• Examine and discuss Constructive Dialogue Institute resources, including the online program Perspectives, online workshop materials, and instructor guides.
• Develop toolkits to equip instructors with actionable strategies across disciplines to enhance student-to-student and faculty-to-student interactions in teaching complex, and potentially divisive, topics.

• Jason Ezell, Ph.D.
  • Head of Learning and Engagement, Miami University Libraries 
• Érica Fernández, Ph.D.
  • Associate Professor, Department of Educational Leadership, College of Education, Health, and Society 
• Saruna Ghimire, Ph.D.
  • Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Gerontology, College of Arts and Science 
• John Cinnamon, Ph.D.
  • Associate Professor, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Applied Science 
• Kaneesha Ogle, Ph.D., R.N., M.S.W., L.S.W. 
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing, College of Liberal Arts and Applied Science
• Shenyue Jia, Ph.D.
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, College of Arts and Science
• Brandy Reeves-Doyle, Ph.D.
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Kinesiology, Nutrition, and Health, College of Education, Health, and Society 
• Abigail Morgan
  • Social Sciences Librarian, Miami University Libraries 
• David Yin, Ph.D.
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Finance, Farmer School of Business