Discussing differences and understanding others, even those with similar viewpoints, is not always easy. But there are several resources available that provide guiding questions, information, and tools for navigating these discussions.

Values Reflection

Many times disagreements or misunderstandings come from a difference of guiding values. This is why is it helpful to understand and reflect on your own personal values and how these play out in your day-to-day life as well as your voting decisions.

• What Are Your Values? Deciding What's Most Important in Life
• Why Values Matter TEDxMunchen - Jan Stassen

Facilitation Tools and Discussion Guides

• Art of Mindful Facilitation
  • This handout from Lee Mun Wah's book provides tools, techniques, sample questions, and phrases to facilitate group discussion around challenging topics such as race.
• Butler Center Dialogue Guidelines
  • help set shared guidelines and expectations for engaging in challenging conversations and gives everyone ownership in the discussion
• YWCA Racial Justice Facilitation Guide
  • This guide provides various tools, techniques, and strategies for leading group discussion specifically around race and racism
• Restorative Justice Talking Circle Guidelines
  • PeaceKeeping and Talking Circles are a structured process used to bring people together to better understand one another, build and strengthen bonds and solve community problems. This document provides a brief and basic introduction to the facilitation role in talking circles.
  • For a more detailed overview of Restorative Justice, consider reading Little Book of Restorative Justice for Colleges and Universities: Revised and Updated: Repairing Harm and Rebuilding Trust in Response to Student Misconduct by David Karp
• Open the Front Door Difficult Discussion Frameworks
  • This worksheet provides sample phrases, follow-up questions, and formats to use "when voices get hot" to encourage further constructive dialogue
• Commonly Used Social Justice Terms
  • Having a shared language and understanding of frequently used social justice terms can help folks be on the same page or at least have a similar starting point to guide discussion

Trauma-Informed Care Resources

• Understanding Trauma
  • This handout provides a brief introduction to trauma and some of its effects and symptoms
• Trauma Informed Communities
  • Trauma-Informed Communities seek to actively resist re-traumatization and work to integrate knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and practices.
• Racial Trauma Toolkit
  • The Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture Alumni Board has released a toolkit for managing symptoms of racial trauma which is available to download at the above link.