The Community, Democracy, and Dialogue (CDD) advisory working group was formed to help our community navigate challenging, complex, and controversial topics in ways that broaden perspectives and diminish polarization.
The CDD includes a diverse group of faculty, staff, and campus leaders with expertise in many fields including geopolitics, equity and inclusion, and communication and civil discourse. The CDD encourages engagement opportunities promoting healthy dialogue, academic inquiry, and respect for differences in addressing challenging topics.
Grant awardees are required to include the CDD mark on publicity materials and to include language specifying that their projects are CDD initiatives. This is the approved brandmark graphic for use on CDD publicity materials.
Key Aspects of the CDD
Advancing Community, Democracy, and Dialogue Grant Funding
This initiative commits $150,000 in grant funds to support grassroots efforts by students, staff, and faculty to promote diverse discourse and open dialogue on critical global and domestic social issues. Grants of up to $5,000 will be awarded to support activities, such as workshops, symposia, brown bag lunches, guest speakers, and the development of curricula or resources.
The Third Way Forward
The Third Way Forward is a plan to create small group-dialogue opportunities to establish spaces where people feel comfortable sharing their perspectives, asking questions, and engaging in conversations without risking immediate judgment or blame. These micro-communities will encourage democratic engagement and better understanding of differing viewpoints, working toward the goal of contributing to a more inclusive campus climate.
Social Media/Multimedia Literacy Toolkit
Informed citizens today must be prepared to distinguish between credible outlets and those that distribute misinformation and disinformation. In addition, individuals need a better understanding of today’s intense social media environment and how it can impact their professional and personal lives. This resource will be developed by expert UMass Amherst faculty.
Program Support
Promotion of timely programming has already begun this semester, including guest speakers, panels, and executives-in-residence. For example, the inaugural Endowed Lecture on the Holocaust and Contemporary Social Problems on February 28, sponsored by the Department of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies, presented a talk by Professor Omer Bartov of Brown University: “The Never Again Syndrome: Uses and Misuses of Holocaust Memory in Contemporary Global Politics.”
Please contact Ebru (she/her) with general questions or updates you would like to share about this initiative.
