Community conversation series comes to campus

In the era of social media, Southeast professor Debbie Lee-Distefano said people just aren’t used to listening anymore — so she helped create the community conversation series that promotes conversation and understanding differing viewpoints.

“It’s given everyone an individual platform to say what they think and then disregard,” Lee-Distefano said about social media. “It’s distanced humans from humans.”

Last fall, Lee-Distefano, Renita Green and Brooke Clubbs set out on a mission to bring the community together through conversation, mindful of the damage possible when people do not attempt to understand the perspective of others.

Their mission continues April 3 at the University Center Starbucks at 6:30 p.m. as Clubbs and Lee-Distefano work to create a safe space where people can come and talk about their experiences and beliefs.

“It’s not a set topic, it’s how we can work together within the university contest to bring these sometimes-difficult conversations,” Lee-Distefano said.

She said people are sometimes afraid to ask questions or voice their opinions, but the goal is to talk through why people are thinking that way, and to add another perspective.

Clubbs said in her experience of disagreeing with people, it often time comes with the perspective by which you see a topic in everyday life. She once talked with a man about their differing perspectives on welfare. Since she is a teacher and the man is a cop, they had entirely different experiences with individuals utilizing the welfare system. However, when they had a conversation, they were able to settle their differences.

“When he saw things my way and I saw things his way, we didn’t necessarily agree, but we understood each other,” Clubbs said in a blogpost on the upcoming community conversations. “There’s power in conversation.”

The community conversations series has been going on since last fall, and is typically held at Cup ‘n’ Cork, however this time they wanted to centralize the community around the university.

Lee-Distefano said the conversations often bring focus to problems in the community, calling some to the attention to those in authority.

To that end, Lee-Distefano and Clubbs invited administrators to attend, contribute and listen to the conversation.

Lee-Distefano said it’s about having intellectual conversation in the community.

“The university is supposed to be a site where the people come together to learn something,” she said.

In the past, several university students have attended the community conversations, where topics such as Back the Blue and gender identity were discussed with citizens from all walks of life.

“People didn't always agree with each other, but they listened to each other,” Clubbs said. “They were brought together. People may not have changed their minds, but, in some way, they were changed.”

For more information on the upcoming community conversation, see Brooke Clubb’s blog at http://www.southeastarrow.com/blogs/bclubbs.