Page 250 - Mike Ratner CC - WISR Complete Dissertation - v6

issue. Structured dialogue processes can build important relationships among people who did not

previously know, trust or empathize with each other, and thus, increase one's competence and

confidence in interacting with people of different races and ethnicities. They can also help people

explore an issue from multiple perspectives, as a starting point for planning strategies or motivating

actions. (www.racialequitytools.org/act/strategies/dialogue-and-deliberation)

The Community Conversation sessions that were the subject of data gathering for this

research included a long-term goal of community-based issue identification and action, however,

the immediate objective was simply exploring the participant’s concept of ‘community’ and how

an enriching dialogue can foster healing and improve relationships among residents of within a

community. The design for interpreting locally-based dialogues used in some of my research were

based on the NIF model explained herein, however, not all aspects of the model were used.

II. Case Study No. 2: Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Spring 2018

This report details dialogue themes emerging from the first “Red & Blue Dialogue,” a

conversation series sponsored by the Millennial Action Project and facilitated by the Zeidler

Center. The FIRST dialogue took place on Tuesday, March 20, 2018 at the Pabst Best Place

(bar restaurant) in Milwaukee where I co-facilitated at table #8.

The purpose of the Red & Blue Dialogue series was to start a series of group dialogues

among (Red) Republicans and (Blue) Democrats including independents.

While open to anyone to come and participate, people were asked which side of the

spectrum they favored (Conservative views vs Liberal) and this coding was an attempt to

place participants with mixed views to sit together at their assigned tables in balanced

numbers.

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