When it comes to expressing your views, it’s not about what you believe, but how to express it. White’s Chapel UMC is aiming to teach youth how to do that in a way that builds trust, empathy and relationships through a new free event called Conversations That Connect.
Conversations That Connect aims to educate high school juniors and seniors on how to develop effective communication by recognizing and transforming bias. Event director Ann Davis says the idea for the event was birthed from a 2017 event called “Art as Conversation,” which broke down similar communication barriers through art and self-portraits.
“Authentic conversation can connect us across even the widest variations in origin and experience,” Ann says. “Our participants were so excited about what they learned about themselves and each other that they asked for a sequel revolving around global issues. The result is Conversations That Connect, a national model for how to not only get the conversation going but to keep it going in the most productive ways for the most effective outcomes.”
The event is broken up into three modules: listening to see, detecting and transforming bias and constructing conversations. According to a media release, public speakers include Center for Creative Leadership senior faculty member Jessica Davidson, Kairos Collaborative founder Todd Porter and unconscious bias expert Dr. David Campt, who has advised members from both the White House and the U.S. Military and was even featured on “The Daily Show With Trevor Noah” in 2018.
In an age where dialogue has become more polarized than ever, Ann says it’s important to identify those cultural barriers so that we can learn to break through them. She hopes that Conversations That Connect will help address the individuals’ similarities and differences in a healthy way.
“Communication that divides limits our creativity and hampers our resilience,” Ann expresses. “Our goal is to nourish the cultural conversation that combines empathy, innovation and influence so that individually, we can flourish, and together, we can resolve the world's challenges rather than add to them.”
Conversations That Connect is going on from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1, at The Bridge in White’s Chapel UMC, located at 185 S. White Chapel Blvd. Registration is required, so be sure to do so online at WhitesChapelUMC.com.