Community-building Listening Circles
As an extension of the 2022 Vermont GIN Conference, “ReGINerating Civil Dialogue”, and in collaboration with Rutland City Public School district’s Equity committee, six Listening Circles will be held and open to the community.
The purpose of the Listening Circles is to promote community discussions where participants can learn and engage in facilitated, protocol-framed civil dialogue about predetermined topics. Students and adults practice respectful exchanges. The sessions are not debate-style but rather listening-for-understanding style. During each event, an activity will be shared that will serve as a common point of reference.
January 26th: Rutland High School 6:30-7:30. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR): What are they? Are they open to interpretation? Are we honoring them? What questions do we still have?
February 16th: Northwest Elementary School 6:30-7:30. First we’ll look at some of the terms that are used when talking about Race. Then we’ll examine “ What Makes Talking About Race Hard?”
March (TBD): Location TBD 6:30-7:30 In celebration of Women’s History Month, we will examine the international gender equity gap in education and employment. We’ll also talk about child care and the proposed amendment to the Vermont Constitution on the ballot in November dealing with reproductive rights
April (TBD): Allen Street Campus 6:30-7:30. To complement Earth Day celebrations we’ll examine the complexities of consuming, recycling, and composting and learning from one another.
May 9th: Rutland High School 6:30-7:30. Experiencing Asian American Stigmatization in Vermont. Capstone Student Sophie A. will share her personal experiences and her research.
We’ll talk about microaggressions: what they are and how to avoid them when interacting with folks who look different from us.
June 6th (TBD): Rutland Middle School or RHS 6:30-7:30. It’s PRIDE Month! First we’ll work to expand our understanding of ‘pronouns.’ What are they? What do they mean? Why are they especially important to our LGBTQ+ community?
Sharing our Resources
In addition to our Listening Circles, we shared the “OURstory: Human Rights Quilts” exhibit with the community during the Maple Leaf Quilters’ March Meeting on March 15th 2022 at Christ the King Church in Rutland, VT in advance of our Conference.
It was through this organization that we became aware of this powerful exhibit and we wanted to share it back with them. Especially since the members of this organization had intended to rent and display this collection at their quilt show, which was canceled due to the COVID protocols in place at the time.
