New Sustained Dialogue Meetings Provide Safe Space

Green River College is offering a Sustained Dialogue meeting every Friday at SH building, Room 355 from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.

Some topics that this dialogue covers are sexism, racial tension, transphobia, mental health, stereotypes, and others. These topics are relevant because they are familiar problems that afflict societies around the world.

The idea of a Sustained Dialogue comes from a national organization which the main purpose is to “transform conflictual relationships and design change processes around the world by an effective communication,” according to the sustained dialogue website, sustaineddialogue.org/.

The college linked to the Sustained Dialogue Institute in March of last year with two days training. For 16 hours, 22 students were trained in facilitation skills and inclusive leadership skills, said Andaiye Qaasim, a leader of the sustained dialogue group and international student advisor manager at the college.

During training, students facilitated three groups of a topic which were: Immigration and American Identity, gender binary (sexism and transphobia), and mental health.

The training cost, hence why the training isn’t happening again this year, but they hope students who were trained can try to teach other students what they learned.

The college’s primary goal is to have in-depth conversations with the international and domestic student and keep the same people continuously so they can know each other rather than different people participating in every meeting.

This helps participators to analyze different opinions and lived experiences to develop a profound understanding of the topics, give confidence, and to help feel comfortable when speaking in public.

“Before I wasn’t confident when speaking in public, but since I joined the Sustained Dialogue I’ve gained determination, now I am comfortable when comes to communicate in public,” said Kim Siang Yew, a student at Green River College and one of the leaders in the sustained dialogue.

Each month they have a broad topic which in every meeting they try to narrow by subtopics. For example, in Jan, the central focus was cultural differences.

In Feb, they discussed social justice issues, and in March, they will focus on women’s rights and gender cultural. The main student leaders that guide the Sustained Dialogue every Friday are Tim Yew, Sun Kang, Patricia Kusumaningtyas, and Chandani Manandhar.

Unlike many other groups conversation, the Sustained Dialogue gives a speaking opportunity to every participator to tell their own experience and talk freely without any judgment. There is no a leader standing in front of the students and talking, rather, everybody is sitting and eating while speaking. This creates a comfortable atmosphere for students when discussing difficult topics.

At the beginning of the meeting on Feb. 2, there were only six participators, but after 15 minutes, more people joined.

The main topic of the meeting was gender role as a general topic, then they discussed other topics related to the general topic such as arranged marriage and marriage for love, divorce, and LGBT relationships. Participators were from different countries and each of them gave a different point of view.

For example, arrange marriage is still common in many countries in Asia such as Nepal, and some countries such as Indonesia there is certain last name someone cannot marry. In Japan, gay marriage is not legal as it is here in the states.

The group was invited to an event by the King County Library, where seven students helped lead three facilitated conversations at Teen Summit at the Redmond Library.

All students are welcome and it is best for those who want to improve their conversation and facilitation skills, those who are interested in diversity issues, and those who want the ability to connect genuinely and authentically with their peers.

In today’s political climate, there is often a need for discussion and the college has provided that in the form of these meetings, which meet every Friday.