Workshop: How can we have a dialogue on difficult topics?

Tuesday, September 21, 2021

Time: 13.00 - 16.30 (UTC+3)

Participation is limited to 15 people.

The workshop, which will be facilitated by John Sarrouf from Essential Partners, will reflect on neurobiology, emotions and perceptions. Through interactive activities, participants will have the opportunity to reflect on how they approach others, how they relate with them, and their potential to transform relationships.

In the workshop, the participants set out from issues that are difficult to discuss in their own lives; they will think about new ways to break the cycles of conflict in order to establish a constructive dialogue without polarization. The workshop, where the elements of active and deep listening are examined, will be focused on how a more open dialogue can be possible through empathy by getting away from stereotypes and prejudices.

  • The workshop will be conducted on  Tuesday, September 21, from 13.00 am - 16.30 pm  (UTC+3) via Zoom.
  • The language of the workshop will be English with simultaneous translation to Turkish.
  • It will be a participatory interactive workshop with group studies and discussion. Participation is limited to 15 people.
  • Please fill the form below to apply to the workshop.

John Sarrouf

John Sarrouf studied in the master’s program in dispute resolution at the University of Massachusetts. John has facilitated dialogues on issues such as guns in America, police and community relations, Israel-Palestine, Muslim-Jewish relations, abortion, human sexuality in the Christian Church, and race in America. John Sarrouf teaches people how to facilitate dialogues across differences, and to mediate and manage conflict in their own lives and workplaces. He has helped to start dialogue programs at universities, organizations, cities and towns across the country including the University of San Diego, Tufts University, Wellesley College, Rutgers University, Northeastern University, Bridgewater College, and the University of the South. He served as the Assistant Director of Difficult Dialogues at Clark University and helped start the Peace and Conflict Studies program at Gordon College. Sarrouf teaches reconciliation at the European Center for the Study of War and Peace in Zagreb.

Essential Partners

Their mission is to foster constructive dialogue wherever conflicts are driven by differences of identities, beliefs, and values. Essential Partners has worked for three decades to facilitate conversations and equip people using our approach to dialogue. They bring a method that is applicable and adaptable to a wide variety of contexts. Our method, Reflective Structured Dialogue (RSD), relies on preparation, structure, questions, facilitation, and reflection to enable people to harness their capacity to have the conversations they need to have.

This project is funded by the European Union.