• Mondays: 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
• Tuesdays: 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
• Wednesdays: 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
• Thursdays: 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
• Fridays: 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
  
• Saturdays: Closed
• Sundays: 12:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
• University Holidays: Closed

• The Pride Center for LGBTQIA2+ Diversity 
• The Mosaic Center for Cultural Diversity

About the Symposium:

This full-day event is dedicated to advancing dialogue as a powerful approach for connection, inclusion, and collective action. Grounded in the work of the Difficult Dialogues National Resource Center, this year's theme — "Dialogue as a Campus and Community Approach" — explores how institutions and community organizations can embed dialogic practices across curricular, co-curricular, and administrative spaces. 

What You'll Experience:

• Interactive sessions and hands-on workshops exploring facilitation, trauma-informed practices, and community connection. 

• Peer-led exchanges and an "Unconference" segment where participants co-create ideas and partnerships in real time. 

• A focus on tools for embedding dialogue into teaching, learning, engagement, and community collaboration. 

Who Should Attend:

Whether you are faculty integrating dialogue into your courses, staff facilitating community or campus engagement, a student leader leading coalition building, or a community partner working across neighborhoods and beyond — this symposium is for you. 

Want to Present? 

The committee invites proposals from students, staff, faculty, and community partners. We invite proposals that will:

• Build strategies for institutional leadership and resource alignment to sustain dialogue programs and initiatives. 

• Deepen facilitation and practitioner skills (with attention to trauma-informed practices & facilitator well-being). 

• Explore concrete tools and techniques for integrating dialogue into classrooms, curricula, departments and community engagement. 

• Co-create new directions for dialogue work that connects campuses and communities across the region. 

• Submit your proposal here: https: //umbc.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_b2fZiJ2jngIFWES

Registration & Next Steps:

• Student attendance is free; other categories have nominal fees as outlined on the CSJD website: https://csjdialogue.umbc.edu/the-dialogue-symposium-bringing-colleges-and-communities-together/

• Registration opens December 1, 2025. 

• Keep an eye out for the full program and registration link soon.

• For questions, contact Chloe Kastner (ml82770@umbc.edu).

Join us in shaping a day of thoughtful connection, courageous conversation, and collective reflection as we build toward a more dialogue-rich, inclusive campus and community culture.

We look forward to seeing you on January 29!

• Critical Religious Pluralism (series keynote): Join Dr. Jenny Small in a dialogue about critical religious pluralism, which challenges surface-level notions of tolerance and instead calls for a deeper engagement with the systemic inequities embedded in religious life on college campuses. Event details: https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/doie/events
• Responding to Antisemitism with Courage and Care (brown bag): Join Dr. Jenny Small for a brown-bag conversation on how college campuses can respond to antisemitism with empathy, action, and institutional integrity, creating environments where Jewish community members feel supported and empowered. Event details: https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/doie/events

• Confronting Bias, Building Belonging Across Eastern Religions and Faith Traditions (brown bag): Join Dr. Simran Kaur-Colbert for a brown-bag discussion where campus community members explore how to dismantle misconceptions about Dharmic religious traditions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism, and cultivate a sense of belonging through cultural understanding and interfaith engagement. Event details: https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/doie/events

• Fostering Safety and Inclusion for Muslim and Arab Communities (brown bag): Join Dr. Joshua Salaam for a brown-bag discussion, inviting college community members to reflect on how we can foster inclusivity and empathy by understanding the experiences of Muslim and Arab college students, while taking action toward safety and belonging on campus. Event details: https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/doie/events