Westmont Center for Dialogue & Deliberation For Students

Student participation is vital to our work.

Since the fall of 2018, we've been training Westmont students to facilitate community conversations, listening sessions, dialogues, decision-making and deliberations. We recognize the value of a liberal arts education that includes training in civic engagement beyond that of traditional service learning opportunities. Learning to lead conversations amongst community members with differing perspectives and take notes that accurately reflect these views profoundly impacts our neighbors and our ways of interacting with the world. Our neighbors feel heard and find renewed hope in seeking solutions to complex issues, and students can better weigh the tensions between differing values and options and articulate issues with greater nuance. 

Learn with us. 

To learn more about facilitation, sign-up for COM 128: Facilitating Ethical Communication. To learn more about policy framing and advocacy issues, take COM 130. To learn more about group communication and leadership, take COM 127. We also highly recommend courses that emphasize deliberation and understanding policy such as those offered in history and political science.