Session III a: July 25-29, 2011

36. Facilitating Structured Dialogue in Intercultural Conflict Benjamin J. Broome As organizations, community groups, and societies become increasingly divided by political, social, and cultural differences, interculturalists need enhanced methods for facilitating meaningful dialogue in conflict situations. Many of the group techniques used by untrained facilitators can actually do more harm than good, merely reinforcing inadequate understandings and perpetuating harmful habits. Building consensus among a diverse set of participants requires a sophisticated understanding of the facilitation process and tested design methodologies. This workshop will be conducted as a learning community in which participants can connect their own experiences and insights to theories and research in group facilitation, peace and conflict studies, and intercultural communication.

Designed for Objectives Learning Activities Benjamin J. Broome Educators, consultants, human resource professionals, and organizational and community leaders whose work involves strategic planning, problem solving, agenda setting, improving teamwork, or peace building, and who are dealing with intercultural complexity, uncertainty, and conflict. Participants will have the opportunity to: Examine the role of facilitation in managing communication among individuals in intercultural settings Explore the primary obstacles to communication in intercultural group situations, both domestic and global Distinguish the attitudes, skills, and style required of the facilitator role Identify ways to match personal style with group needs Experience selected consensus methodologies for managing intercultural groups Analyze problem-solving group work and make recommendations for improving communication through using an integrated systems approach Discover creative possibilities for bridging differences through collaborative process design Mini-lectures that outline approaches to facilitation in intercultural groups Group discussion to clarify concepts and to share expertise of the participants Practice with dialogic processes as a basis for analyzing their dynamics and effectiveness Experiential activities that illustrate facilitative interventions Collaborative work on designing facilitation strategies   Dr. Benjamin J. Broome is a professor in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University. He has worked with a variety of groups in both domestic and international conflict situations. During the past 15 years he has collaborated with citizen peace-building groups on the island of Cyprus, where he served as Senior Fulbright Scholar in conflict resolution from 1994-1996. He has facilitated problem-solving and design workshops with bi-communal groups of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots and with bi-national groups of Turks and Greeks to develop reconciliation in the region. Prior to his work in Cyprus, Ben collaborated with Americans for Indian Opportunity, assisting in projects with the Winnebago, Menominee, Comanche, Pawnee, Apache, and Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. He has also worked with a variety of groups in nonprofit, corporate, government, and educational settings. Ben has published in numerous scholarly journals and is the author of Exploring the Greek Mosaic: Intercultural Communication in Greece and Building Bridges Across the Green Line: A Guide to Intercultural Communication in Cyprus.