EDUC 2610/ILRID 2610: Intergroup Dialogue

Instructors: Dr. Adi Grabiner Keinan & Jazlin Gomez Garner
3 credits. Letter grade only.
Distribution Requirements: (CA-AG, D-AG, SBA-AG), (ICE-IL)
Exploratory Studies: (CU-CEL)
Offered: Fall & Spring

Visit the Class Roster for Course Times

Course Description

In this course, you will learn to connect and communicate about and across differences of perspective, experience, and identity, and explore your agency to advance the social good. Through faculty lectures, engaged assignments, and conversations led by trained undergraduate facilitators, you will learn frameworks and practice skills in the areas of human connection, dimensions of difference, intentional communication, and collaborative change. Together, you will build a community of active and critically reflective co-learners; foster connections with self, others, and society; examine how human differences are shaped by sociocultural and historical contexts; and consider their consequences for politics, society, and everyday life. You will also engage in productive dialogue and generative conflict around contemporary issues and co-develop strategies that advance the social good.

EDUC 2610/ILRID 2610 is open to all Cornell undergraduate students. Each section comprises 14 – 20 students and two trained peer facilitators. Classes meet once a week for three hours. 

To support meaningful intergroup dialogue and maximize learning, we intentionally build sections that reflect a range of perspectives and experiences after students enroll in the course.

Learning Outcomes

Throughout the semester, students will have the opportunity to advance their understanding and capacity in each of the four development areas: human connection, dimensions of difference, intentional communication, and collaborative change. At the successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

  • Connect with oneself and others in a way that foregrounds human complexity and deepens a sense of mutual responsibility with others in society.
  • Analyze the impacts of multiple dimensions of difference (perspective, experience, identity) at the self, interpersonal, institutional, and societal levels.
  • Assess and critically evaluate information, theories, and assumptions from multiple and divergent perspectives, and examine their impact on individuals and communities.
  • Engage in effective dialogue about and across differences in multiple contexts.
  • Identify personal and collective agency for responsible and effective change.
  • Demonstrate clear and effective verbal and written communication of one’s own personal perspective, based on lived experiences, empirical research, and conceptual knowledge.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • AAP: Required Out of Department Humanities Elective: Cultural Analysis (CA) & Social Behavior Analysis (SBA)
  • CALS:
    • Pre-2025 CALS requirements (students who started at Cornell before fall 2025): Diversity (D), Cultural Analysis (CA), & Social Behavior Analysis (SBA) distribution requirements.
    • Post-2025 CALS requirements (students who started at Cornell in fall 2025 or later): Science, Society & Sustainable Studies & Cultural, Social & Historical Understanding
  • CHE: Cultural Analysis (CA) and Social Behavior Analysis (SBA) distribution requirements.
  • COE: Diversity (D), Cultural Analysis (CA), & Social Behavior Analysis (SBA) distribution requirement.
  • Dyson:  Human Diversity college distribution requirement.
  • ILR: Diversity (for students who matriculated in or after fall 2022), In-College Advanced Elective (ICE-IL)
  • SHA: Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Course.
  • Applicable towards:
      • BPP Health Care Policy Major
      • CALS Education Minor
      • CALS Leadership Minor
      • CAS Inequality Studies Minor
      • Certificate in Engaged Leadership

We suggest you confirm with your college, as distribution requirements may change.

Students wanting to enroll in ILRID 2610 should enroll in EDUC 2610 during pre-enroll. Students will be able to switch to ILRID 2610 during add/drop as needed.

Once the class has started, dropping EDUC 2610/ILRID 2610 requires department consent, as it is important for us to have an accurate course roster and to know if a student is dropping so we can add additional students from the waitlist.

Submit an EDUC 2610/ILRID 2610 Removal Request Form to notify us of your intention to drop the course and to receive department consent to drop the course in Student Center. The details we ask for in the form help us process your request as quickly as possible. You will receive an email notification once your request has been processed.

ILR students must meet with an advisor in OSS to request permission to drop after the add deadline.

Here’s what students have said about the course…

“

This class was really helpful for building meaningful conversations between people.

“

[In EDUC 2610] I learned that making meaningful connections in the classroom setting is possible.

“

I will continue using active listening to make more meaningful connections with other people. It keeps me engaged and patient when speaking to others.

“

I plan to utilize communication strategies that I have learned through [CDP] in order to form better and more genuine connections with others.

“

I plan to expose myself to as many diverse perspectives as possible. Whenever I am confused by someones actions, I will ask them about their reasoning/learn more about them instead of immediately making a judgment.

“

I am much more open-minded than I was coming into this course, and I think I am now comfortable with recognizing how spheres of influence have shaped me and to ask myself why and how that is.

“

Talking about topics of conflict through the skills we learned in the class allowed me to learn a lot more about the people I was talking with and just how similar we were, while also better understanding the perspectives of people who I disagreed with.

“

After this course, [I plan on] being more open to engaging in difficult conversations with people around me at Cornell. I have learned a lot from engaging with people who disagree with me.

“

I really enjoyed the time we took to practice being intentional with communication. I think those skills of active listening and deep questioning will prove helpful in many future endeavours.

“

I learned how to be vulnerable and engage in conflict with confidence.

“

[After EDUC 2610] I am to better explain my ideas and grasp others’ perspectives

“

I learned skills for engaging in constructive dialogue, rather than arguments that go in circles.

“

[After EDUC 2610] I feel as though I can be a more informed and active member of society

Please contact nms68@cornell.edu with any questions or for more information.