Institute for Constructive Advocacy and Dialogue
Shaping conversations that impact individuals, organizations and communities.
ICAD: Shaping conversations that impact individuals, organizations, and communities.
Our blog, “ICAD in Community” offers insights into how we are working to fulfill these three prongs of our mission:
· facilitating conversations that help communities talk and think together.
· educating and training students, faculty, staff and community members to facilitate conversations that promote understanding, trust-building, and collective problem-solving
· advancing research about dialogue, deliberation, and collaboration and ensuring these processes are inclusive, accessible, and benefit from collective wisdom.
In these posts we highlight how we collaborate with our students in classes; with staff, faculty and organizations on the James Madison University campus; in our local, regional and statewide communities; and with others advancing the knowledge of facilitation and engagement practices nationally and internationally.
Experiencing The National Student Dialogue 2024: Impacts and Actions Plans
By Taylor Panneck and Chloe Zientek, ICAD Student Affiliates An Experience to Take Back The SNF Ithaca National Student Dialogue at the Biden School of Public Policy & Administration, University of Delaware has been held for several years, and this year we had...
You and Climate Change: Small Steps Toward a Brighter & More Sustainable Future
By Taylor Panneck The concept of climate change is such a large topic to wrap the brain around that it’s sometimes hard to see the personal effects that it has on your life and the lives of those around you. In a recent facilitation workshop, ICAD student...
The Impact of A.I. in Higher Education: A Conversation by Students for Students
By Harrison Bradford, John Heltebran, Taylor Panneck, Sarah Spiegelhalter, Chloe Zientek Note: As part of a class on facilitating productive conversations in the School of Communication Studies at James Madison University, this student team designed and facilitated...
Unveiling Varied Perspectives: Perceptions of Aging Across Generations
By Maegan Barnes, Sean Johns, Nicole Hatcher, Warren Orlando, Madison Stoltz Note: As part of a class on facilitating productive conversations in the School of Communication Studies at James Madison University, this student team designed and facilitated a dialogue...
Shaping a Vision of Inclusive Sports in Society
by Sally Mumford with Luke Brenner, Molly Cacci, Andrew Frowert, Alejandro Luna Note: As part of a class on facilitating productive conversations in the School of Communication Studies at James Madison University, this student team designed and facilitated a...
A hopeless endeavor, or an opportunity for harmonious discourse? Exploring political divisiveness in the U.S., and how to bridge the gap.
by Heather Opie, Keaton Lyle, Jillian Farrish, Caleb Divers, and Jonathan Dennis – Student design and facilitation team Note: As part of a class on facilitating productive conversations in the School of Communication Studies at James Madison University, this...
Observing Key Elements of Group Discussions Through the Lens of the Facilitator
by Brendan O’Shea, participant in an undergrad course teaching skills and habits of facilitation. O'Shea helped facilitate a dialogue between JMU undergraduates and members of JMU's Lifelong Learning Institute Having the opportunity to be a facilitator for an...
The Impacts of Radical Curiosity
By Cuda Zmuda, ICAD Process Designer 2022 As a student who has had the opportunity to develop their facilitation skills through their university experience, I have had the opportunity to learn tips and tricks from a variety of different facilitators. In Dr. Lori...
A long overdue ICAD update
By Lori Britt If it seems like a long time since we have shared an ICAD update with our supporters and partners, that is because it has been. But trust us, we have been hard at work continuing to shape spaces were people can gather, online or in person, to...
The Impact of ICAD
By: Annie Beg, ICAD Intern Before starting in my position as an ICAD intern, I anticipated growing and honing my skills of facilitation in this capacity. Now that this semester is coming to a close, I can confidently say I am leaving ICAD much different than I...