Department of Student Community Development

Community Dialogues

About

Community Dialogues are large scale discussions on relevant social and civic topics. The purpose is to engage students with today’s most challenging conversations, provide a safe space to share and listen to one another, as well as develop students into tomorrow’s leaders! Each topic is examined through keynote speakers, background guides, interactive games, videos, and much more.

During a Community Dialogue that is facilitated by trained community members, participants will:

- Discuss three different options through which an issue can be addressed;
- Consider the benefits, drawbacks and trade-offs for each of the three different options; and
- Create public consensus and prioritize the different options based on community needs.

Community members are asked to think critically about issues affecting their communities and the different perspectives and perceptions that exist within a single community about any given issue.

Upcoming Community Dialogues

Fall 2024

First Community Dialogue: October 1st

Second Community Dialogue: November 7th

Visit our SB Engaged page for more information about all of our upcoming events!

Past Community Dialogues

The Environment and Local Politics October 18th, 2023

In this dialogue, students discussed the impacts that local government, legislations, and representatives have on our environmental laws and their imapcts on our towns and neighborhoods. Attendees also participated in a water testing activty, looking at levels of elements in water from different locations throughout Stony Brook University. The background guide established a thorough understanding of local government's role and steps students can take to advocate for themselves.

Artifical Intelligence in Education and the Workforce November 29th, 2023

In this community dialogue, students, faculty, and staff discussed the impacts that artifical intelligence is currently having and will potentially have, on the education and workforce spaces. The very detailed background guide explained the different types of artificial intelligence, and how it has recently been incorporated to use for homework and academic dishonesty. Students and faculty participated in an activity to read excerpts of writing human or AI generated and tried to determine for themselves what was written from each,
Midterm Elections and the Long-Term Effects October 19th, 2022

In this dialogue students met to discuss the various local, state, and federal elections happening in November, who the candidates are, and important issues that are on the ballot this year! Attendees learned about the national debt with help from our community partner Up to Us, which aims to educate college students on the importance of fiscal sustainability, and recognizing the national debt as a generational public policy issue. Students received a detailed background guide and partook in a trivia game on the national debt demonstrating the perception of the national debt in the eyes of students.

View Background Guide here!

Polarizing Politics: How does it affect you? November 29th, 2022

In this community dialogue, students met to discuss the topic of Polarized Politics and how it affects students specifically regarding their mental health. Students had an open discussion about how this topic related to one another on a personal level. They were also able to participate in an activity in which they learned about what part of each other's personal identity is important to them to better help them understand their perspectives on this topic.

View Background Guide here!
Social Media's #Age of Activism April 13th, 2022

In this dialogue students met to discuss activism in the era of social media through highlighting “slacktivism”, environmental justice, cancel culture, performative activism, and much more! The keynote speaker was Dr. Chris Sellers, a history professor here at Stony Brook whose research concentrates on the history of environment, climate, and health; of cities and industries; and of inequality, capitalism, and democracy. Students received a detailed background guide and partook in a game demonstrating the effects of social media on our perception of news stories.

View Background Guide here!

Accessing Healthcare Within Underprivileged Communities, March 3rd, 2022

Our community dialogue topic was Accessing Healthcare Within Underprivileged Communities! Keynote speakers, Danielle Merolla from Stony Brook's Center for Prevention & Outreach, and Alec Cali, a doctorate research associate at Stony Brook who focuses on public health topics, aided in the discussion. Students discussed how immigration, mental health, and disability status impacts not only quality of healthcare but access to healthcare as well.

View Background Guide here!

Events