Tufts Intersections Project serves to foster conversation on campus

The Tufts Intersections Project, a new initiative sponsored by the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service and the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate and Graduate Students, has been launched to facilitate conversations in safe spaces for students with meetings throughout October and November. 

The Intersections Project is a series of discussion circles of eight to 10 students led by student, staff or faculty facilitators that seeks to establish comfortable environments and instill in students both the tools to actively contribute and to be receptive to different opinions regarding divisive topics, according to the website. 

“[We want students] to see that someone who believes the exact opposite [of you] is not wrong -- it is just that they have a different experience than you," Mindy Nierenberg, senior program manager at Tisch College, said. "We don't have the tools that we need to take down that divide automatically when we have opposing points of view. This model helps provide you with the tools to do that."

She and Laura Doane, associate dean of orientation and student transition, worked together to launch Intersections at Tufts after attending programming by the Association of American Colleges and Universities. The national organization provided Tufts with a grant to fund Intersections as part of their overarching effort to advance student welfare by creating a more comfortable environment for interaction.

“People from all these different universities came together and discussed that … it's very hard for people to have discussions across differences, whether it is around social identities, lived experiences, backgrounds of all kinds or just differences of opinion on different issues when people feel very passionate about them, " Nierenberg said. "We decided to work with a group called the Public Conversations Project, which basically works … in communities all over the world to bring people together who have very diverging belief systems.”

The Public Conversations Project and Intersections are based upon a common framework that encourages individuals to come into discussions with the intent to better understand other peoples’ perspectives and how they came to formulate such perspectives, rather than coming into conversations with a predetermined agenda to solely convey their own points, according to Nierenberg. 

She noted the two disparate forms of dialogue as “questions of inquiry,” which come from a place of seeking to comprehend another person’s opinions and thoughts based on a genuine interest in their point of view, versus “questions of rhetoric,” which are meant to sway others’ beliefs and can promote argument.

Nierenberg explained that the facilitators themselves were trained by professionals over a two-day period on how to navigate conversations by employing different techniques detailed in the Public Conversations model. The process of recruiting facilitators began in early spring, with potential facilitators submitting short essays to Tisch College.

“Then recruiting faculty, staff and students who might [have liked] to facilitate these dialogues … met with the college transition advisers through a group interview process," Doane said. "Through the group interviews themselves, the people who were interested in participating sort of shifted our goals and intents even just through the questions they were asking.”

Doane further explained that her office did not expect student facilitators to already possess the skills required to traverse and lead these conversations-in-the-round in accordance with the Public Conversations model, but the desire to do so and the recognition of the model’s import were requisite traits in facilitators.

“[We looked for] a real willingness to listen and learn from others’ perspectives and experiences rather than having sort of an agenda going in, which is a very natural human way to approach a dialogue,” she noted.

SeniorMahlet Meshesha, a co-facilitator of the program, explained that the questions she presents to the discussion circles are intentionally broad in order to be inclusive to the widest number of perspectives. She detailed a number of rules that are instituted during the program in order to put students at ease, such as “step up, step back,” meaning each individual should be cognizant of how much they are contributing to a discussion and ensure that they are not dominating conversation in a way that stifles group participation.

Meshesha also mentioned how each discussion circle strives to create a “safe enough” environment, recognizing that it is unrealistic to expect students to feel completely comfortable in their surroundings, yet hoping to surmount any discomfort or trepidations by creating a respectful and nurturing environment.

"I personally signed up because I don't feel like there are a lot of safe environments at Tufts, and, as a senior, when I was at that training, I think that was the only time I have ever felt like I've been in a safe environment on Tufts' campus," she said. "The fact that I've gone four years and I've only experienced that once here is not a good thing."

Meshesha acknowledged that the program is still in its pilot phase and saw these first months as a trial period to work out its kinks before the program can reach its full potential.

"We haven't [had too many participants] because there have been some issues with publicity … we haven't had a lot of traction," she said.  "I think it sounds great in theory to most people -- like this is something [they] would like to do -- but when [they] have to weigh that against doing homework or working or whatever, it can be pushed to the back burner."

The program was intended to serve as a pilot and then become mandatory for first-years during orientation to foster an environment where students can feel safe, speak their minds and embrace for the next four years, according to Meshesha. 

This week marks the final discussion group of the semester, with a focus on “Flourishing and Thriving.” The circles will be meeting at locations across campus on different dates at different times in an effort to increase student-convenience. Sign-ups are available through the Tisch College website, and all students are encouraged to join in on the conversations.