Through a grant from the Chancellor's Office, the CLA College Change Team (including the Department of Writing Studies faculty Susan Perala Dewey, Mariya Gyendina, Merry Rendahl, and David Beard) will work with other University units to hold a Day of Empathy. Presentations, faculty lectures, practical communication workshops, and community presentations will light up a stellar day.
Why Study Empathy?
An immediate concern and the second goal of UMD's Strategic Plan is the creation of "a positive and inclusive campus climate for all by advancing equity, diversity, and social justice." We believe cultivating empathy in our lives and learning skills such as nonviolent communication are action steps towards realizing a welcoming campus community for all.
"A citizen of the world in the fullest sense --is one whose vision and culture gave him a deep empathy with fellow human beings of every creed and color."
--Kofi Annan
Highly effective people solve social and emotional issues as well as intellectual problems. And effective participants in civic life participate with their whole being. Empathy, then, is one's ability to realize one's own feelings and needs, as well as the feelings and needs of others, and act in the way that is most conducive to building productive personal and professional relationships.
"We need empathy to create a new kind of revolution. .. a radical revolution in human relationships. We can cultivate empathy throughout our lives, and use it as a radical force for social transformation."
--Roman Krznaric, The Six Habits of Highly Empathic People
The Day of Empathy is sponsored by these UMD partners: Chancellor's Office, College of Liberal Arts, Department of Writing Studies, Kirby Leadership Institute, Instructional Development Service, UMD Library More information can be found here: http://www.d.umn.edu/kirby/KLI/KLIconf.html
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