Fostering Moral Conversations in the College Classroom
Abstract
The author develops a rationale, and presents a process, for fostering a mutually respectful conversational climate in college seminars in the humanities and in some professional preparation courses. The author presents, and analyzes, a personal memo he attaches to his syllabus at the beginning of each semester. The memo describes the main components of a "moral conversation" that emphasizes the manner in which seminar conversers will talk about texts during the semester, as much as it stresses the importance of the meanings contained in the texts. The article includes sections on the roles of language, conversation, truth, and teaching style in the moral conversation, and concludes with several brief caveats and tips for teachers who wish to foster moral conversations in their classes and seminars.
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