External Dialogue Resources
Books and Media
The following are books, academic articles, podcasts, films, and other media related to dialogue, bridging differences, and constructive engagement. They offer research, stories, and practical insights that support learning, reflection, and more productive conversations across differences.
Courses and Toolkits
Books and Media
Programs and Networks
Dialogue Foundations and Facilitation
Dialogue Across Difference
Author(s): Patricia Gurin; Biren (Ratnesh) A. Nagda; Ximena Zúñiga
Media Type: Book
Description: Explores how intergroup dialogue courses build understanding, empathy, collaboration, and commitment to social justice across race and gender.
Link: https://www.russellsage.org/publications/book/dialogue-across-difference
Intended Audience: Students, Faculty, Educators, Facilitators
Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together
Author(s): William Isaacs
Media Type: Book
Description: Offers principles and practical guidance for using dialogue to think together, build partnership, and improve group communication.
Link: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/85559/dialogue-by-william-isaacs/
Intended Audience: Professionals, Facilitators, Community Leaders
Dialogue Groups: A Practical Guide to Facilitate Diversity Conversation
Author(s): Sally Huang-Nissen
Media Type: Book
Description: Provides practical guidance on dialogue principles, group dynamics, and facilitation skills for conversations about diversity.
Link: https://a.co/d/06EMFqGb
Intended Audience: Facilitators, Educators, Community Leaders
Dialogue: Rediscover the Transforming Power of Conversation
Author(s): Linda Ellinor; Glenna Gerard
Media Type: Book
Description: Explores dialogue as a practice for collective thinking, shared meaning, collaboration, and organizational change.
Link: https://books.google.com/books/about/Dialogue.html?id=HJ_hAAAAMAAJ
Intended Audience: Professionals, Facilitators, Community Leaders
Education Programs for Improving Intergroup Relations: Theory, Research and Practice
Author(s):Walter G. Stephan; W. Paul Vogt (editors)
Media Type: Book
Description: Reviews educational programs designed to improve intergroup relations, including their methods, underlying mechanisms, and evidence of effectiveness.
Link: https://a.co/d/01MCJIlt
Intended Audience: Faculty, Educators, Facilitators
Unfolding Meaning
Author(s): David Bohm
Media Type: Book
Description: David Bohm examines a weekend-long dialogue to explore meaning, wholeness, and less fragmented ways of thinking.
Intended Audience: Students, Faculty, Facilitators, Community Members
Conversation Skills
Calling In: How to Start Making Change With Those You’d Rather Cancel
Author(s): Loretta J. Ross
Media Type: Book
Description: Explains how “calling in” can combine accountability and compassion to turn conflict into conversation and connection. Check out our conversation with Loretta Ross here.
Link: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Calling-In/Loretta-J-Ross/9781982190798
Intended Audience: Students, Educators, Community Members
Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most
Author(s): Douglas Stone; Bruce Patton; Sheila Heen
Media Type: Book
Description: Offers a framework for preparing for emotionally charged conversations, understanding competing perspectives, and communicating with clarity and respect.
Link: https://www.stoneandheen.com/difficult-conversations
Intended Audience: Students, Professionals, Facilitators
How to Disagree Better
Author(s): Julia Minson
Media Type: Book
Description: Explores the skill of receptiveness and offers strategies for handling disagreement more productively.
Link: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/774525/how-to-disagree-better-by-julia-minson/
Intended Audience: Students, Leaders, Facilitators
How to Know a Person
Author(s): David Brooks
Media Type: Book
Description: Explores the skill of understanding others deeply through attention, listening, and meaningful conversation.
Link: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/652822/how-to-know-a-person-by-david-brooks/
Intended Audience: Students, Staff, Community Members
I Never Thought of It That Way
Author(s): Mónica Guzmán
Media Type: Book
Description: Shows how curiosity and better questions can help people understand perspectives different from their own and navigate difficult conversations.
Link: https://www.moniguzman.com/book
Intended Audience: Students, Facilitators, Community Members
Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life
Author(s): Marshall B. Rosenberg
Media Type: Book
Description: Introduces a communication framework centered on observations, feelings, needs, and requests to help people communicate more effectively and navigate conflict with empathy.
Link: https://www.amazon.com/Nonviolent-Communication-Language-Life-Changing-Relationships/dp/189200528X
Intended Audience: Students, Facilitators, Educators, Community Members
Polarization, Identity, and High Conflict
Facing the Fracture: How to Navigate the Challenges of Living in a Divided Nation
Author(s): Tania Israel
Media Type: Book
Description: Offers practical strategies for reducing toxic media input, managing polarizing thoughts and emotions, and engaging more constructively across political differences.
Link: https://taniaisrael.com/writing-books/facing-the-fracture-book/
Intended Audience: Students, Educators, Community Members
High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out
Author(s): Amanda Ripley
Media Type: Book
Description: Explains how fear, identity, and group dynamics can turn ordinary disagreement into consuming high conflict, and offers ways to break the cycle.
Link: https://www.amandaripley.com/high-conflict
Intended Audience: Students, Facilitators, Community Members
Racial Exhaustion: How to Move Through Racism in the Wake of DEI
Author(s): Ralina L. Joseph
Media Type: Book
Description: Explores racial exhaustion and offers deep-listening and communication practices for more productive conversations about race.
Link: https://nyupress.org/9781479840007/racial-exhaustion/
Intended Audience: Students, Educators, Community Members
The Righteous Mind
Author(s): Jonathan Haidt
Media Type: Book
Description: Examines how moral intuitions shape political and religious beliefs and why people often see the same issues differently.
Link: https://www.amazon.com/Righteous-Mind-Divided-Politics-Religion/dp/0307455777
Intended Audience: Students, Faculty, Civic Engagement Programs
Why We’re Polarized
Author(s): Ezra Klein
Media Type: Book
Description: Examines how identity, political systems, and media incentives reinforce polarization and shape how Americans see one another.
Link: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Why-Were-Polarized/Ezra-Klein/9781476700366
Intended Audience: Students, Educators, Community Members
Bridging and Peacebuilding
Getting to Yes
Author(s): Roger Fisher; William Ury; Bruce Patton
Media Type: Book
Description: Explains an interest-based approach to negotiation focused on mutually beneficial solutions.
Link: https://www.vitalsource.com/products/getting-to-yes-roger-fisher-william-l-ury-v9781101539545
Intended Audience: Students, Professionals, Facilitators
The Four Pivots
Author(s): Shawn A. Ginwright
Media Type: Book
Description: Presents a framework for personal and collective transformation centered on awareness, connection, vision, and presence.
Link: https://www.northatlanticbooks.com/shop/the-four-pivots/
Intended Audience: Students, Community Leaders, Facilitators
The Future Is Peace: A Shared Journey Across the Holy Land
Author(s): Aziz Abu Sarah; Maoz Inon
Media Type: Book
Description: Follows a Palestinian and an Israeli peace activist on a shared journey through Israel and the West Bank, exploring histories that divide and connect their peoples.
Link: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-future-is-peace-aziz-abu-sarah/1147531949
Intended Audience: Students, Educators, Community Members
The Power of Bridging
Author(s): john a. powell
Media Type: Book
Description: Introduces the concept of bridging and offers practical strategies for building belonging and connection across differences. Check out our conversation with john powell here.
Link: https://belonging.berkeley.edu/power-bridging
Intended Audience: Students, Educators, Community Leaders
The War for Kindness
Author(s): Jamil Zaki
Media Type: Book
Description: Explores how empathy can be strengthened through practice and highlights research on connection across differences. Check out our conversation with Jamil Zaki here.
Intended Audience: Students, Educators, Community Members
Dialogue Across Difference Initiative
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