EP co-Executive Director John Sarrouf has contributed a chapter to this new academic volume, Bias, Belief, and Conviction in an Age of Fake Facts (Routledge, 2023).
In his essay (page 181), “In Pursuit of the Dialogic Classroom: Designing Spaces for Conviction,” Sarrouf focuses on the cultivation of conviction in classroom by designing them as spaces for refection on one’s own values, beliefs, and narratives, as well as connection among the students and educator. The chapter includes stories from the field that show how dialogic spaces have supported the development of convictions in college students on issues such as Israel/Palestine, Guns in American Society, Abortion, and Confederate Symbolism.
Sarrouf also explores the way a cultivation of intellectual humility through the use of dialogue makes room for students who do not yet hold clear views on an issue to develop their own convictions. As classrooms become increasingly polarized, the ability for students to develop and share convictions has become more difficult and critical. Reflective Structured Dialogue supports invites greater intellectual humility, making the development and sharing of convictions more welcomed.
Across the book, scholars from the fields of philosophy, psychology, comparative literature, media studies, applied linguistics, intercultural communication, and education explore and interrogate the nature of personal conviction—the source of our convictions, whether we are aware of them, why and how they compel us to act, and whether we can change them in response to new evidence.
This digital edition of this book is free to download as a PDF thanks to the support of of libraries working with Knowledge Unlatched (KU). KU is a collaborative initiative designed to make high quality books Open Access for the public good.