How to Talk About Hot Topics on Campus

How to Talk About Hot Topics on Campus fills a gap in the student services and teaching and learning literature by providing a resource that shows how to construct and carry out difficult conversations from various vantage points in the academy. It offers a theory-to-practice model of conversation for the entire college campus that will enable all constituencies to engage in productive and civil dialogue on the most difficult and controversial social, religious, political, and cultural topics.

Preface ix Acknowledgments xv The Authors xvii Part I: Laying the Theoretical Groundwork for Moral Conversation 1 1. Igniting the Fire of Moral Conversation 3 2. Promoting a Spirit of Pluralism on College Campuses 35 Part II: Practicing the Moral Conversation 63 3. A Faculty Member’s View on Moral Conversation from the Classroom 65 Robert J. Nash 4. An Administrator’s View on Moral Conversation from the Division of Student Affairs 99 DeMethra LaSha Bradley 5. A Senior Administrator’s Systemic View on Facilitating Moral Conversations Across Campus 133 Arthur W. Chickering Part III: Final Words on Moral Conversation 173 6. Opportunities, Risks, and Caveats for Moral Conversation 175 Appendix A: A Step-by-Step How-To Guide for Facilitators and Participants When Doing Moral Conversation 205 Robert J. Nash and Alissa B. Strong Appendix B: Additional Text References and Internet Resources 219 Appendix C: Western Stereotypes About Islam from Both the Left and the Right 221 Robert J. Nash Appendix D: A Whole-Campus Teaching and Learning Rationale for Moral Conversation: Inspired by the 2004 NASPA Report Learning Reconsidered: A Campus-Wide Focus on the Student Experience 229 Robert J. Nash Appendix E: Naturalistic and Narrativistic Paradigms in Academia: Implications for Moral Conversation 241 Robert J. Nash References 251 Index 261