North Carolina State University Campus Conversations Project
Written May 2023
“[This is] why… you see the model focusing so heavily on personal stories and experiences get pushed to its limits, but not in a way that conflicts with the model. It’s not a debate about if we should be legalizing marijuana or not; it’s about how we experience the issue [that we discuss in the conversations.”- Scott O’Leary, project director
“The goal was not to get to a certain conclusion but listen to what others have to say and be able to share.”- Maggie Campbell, student project lead.
North Carolina State University is a public university based in Raleigh, North Carolina, founded in 1887. Currently, NC State is ranked in the top 1% of universities. It is a Research 1 university recognized worldwide for “big ideas and bigger impact.”
NC State is also home to a well-established, university-wide Campus Conversations Project. As explained by the project’s webpage, “NC State’s mission is to be at the forefront of innovation in addressing the needs of society. The dangerous polarization of American society is a starkly critical social need. Polarization is reshaping our democracy into factions divided by fear and loss of connection with those of a different worldview. The Campus Conversations Project addresses this need, engaging our widely diverse campus in conversations across differences while developing the key academic and interpersonal skills of critical thinking, cultural competency, empathy, and self-awareness.”
The project has three key goals:
- Create intentional space for conversation across differences on campus.
- Equip students with vital communication skills
- Promote mutual respect and democratic citizenship and engagement
The Living Room Conversations conversation model is a crucial project component, as all conversations were centered on LRC guides and conversation agreements. The project has been around for multiple years. As of early 2023, it had reached 2,100 participants between 120 different campus conversations on 50 topics. Dr. Scott O’Leary, Director of the Honors and Scholars Village, oversees the project. He explained that while the project uses the Living Room Conversation model, they also tend to “push the limit to its boundaries,” of which they have had positive results. O’Leary explained what drew them to use LRC conversation guides in the project: “It was all open source and had a very low barrier of entry.”
The general LRC model encourages participants to incorporate the sharing of personal experiences that relate to the conversation topic into conversations. The creators of the Campus Conversations project observed that a slight change would need to be made to the model to allow them to address more complex and potentially fraught topics that students were interested in.
Two such topics were marijuana usage and the sex work industry. Because recreational marijuana use is not currently legal in North Carolina, an LRC conversation that encouraged sharing personal experiences could lead to some unintended self-incrimination that project directors sought to avoid. To accommodate this, they shifted the model from encouraging talking from experience to speaking on one’s perceptions of the world around them. For example, Dr. O’Leary explained, one might speak regarding what they think about a topic based on what is occurring in other places or what they have seen on TV or social media as opposed to their specific experiences or opinions on the legality of certain things. Dr O’Leary noted, “[This is] why… you see the model focusing so heavily on personal stories and experiences get pushed to its limits, but not in a way that conflicts with the model. It’s not a debate about if we should be legalizing marijuana or not; it’s about how we experience the issue [which we seek to discuss in the conversations.”
Regarding the conversation on sex work, Dr. O’Leary continued, “We wouldn’t want students talking about them or somebody close to them in this field unless they felt comfortable, and even then, it would be a very challenging discussion [especially since many who work at universities are mandatory reporters], But students could talk about the larger conversation from your perspective. Such as, ‘This is what I feel about this because I know people who have been in tough straits, and this is why they do this…’ or ‘This is why they want autonomy of choice or those types of things.’ And so, we have been able to use the model beyond conversations about ‘How does this impact your day-to-day?’ to ‘How do you think about these larger issues from where you stand?”’
The two student co-directors, Jameson Wolf and Maggie Campbell, were also interviewed about the project. They reflected on what contributed to NC State University being optimal for a facilitated conversation project because of the variety of students. They noted the diversity of students’ backgrounds, hometowns, and individual experiences. Jameson explained, “NC State is a big technology and agriculture school.” Combined, the Engineering and Agriculture schools make up approximately 40% of total student enrollment. “One of the things that I like about our school is that we have a good mix of students from urban parts of the state and students from more rural parts because of [the university’s focuses].”
When asked what drew them to participate in a facilitated conversation project, Maggie explained, “[When I first came to college, I noticed the people around me] were ready to have these critical conversations and share their experiences, but the kind of structure was not in place to have these conversations respectfully, and with listening as the top priority.” She continued, “What initially drew me to the project was desiring the kind of a framework to have these conversations and to make sure that everyone’s being listened to and respected.”
Regarding the goals of the project, Jameson noted it was to be “[A] very intentional space for [people] to have these conversations [they] really wanted to have but didn’t quite know how to go about having [before].” Maggie continued, “Our main driving mission is bridging the gaps [between students] and having these conversations across differences.” And finished Jameson “finding common ground despite the differences.” Lastly, Maggie mentioned, “The goal was not to get to a certain conclusion but to listen to what others have to say and be able to share.”
Such goals, as mentioned above, were notably lofty. However, Maggie explained, “I am definitely seeing [our] goal being accomplished, bringing people together that have differing ideas on a topic, and I’m seeing that ability to find common ground amongst a lot of different divides in society.” And Jameson continued, “[I have observed] some really powerful moments in these conversations that [the finding of common ground] was actively happening.”
On top of the validation of meeting the project’s goals, Jameson noted that her favorite part of being involved in the project was “Getting to meet and talk to a lot of students around campus that I probably wouldn’t have crossed paths with in any other context. We were able to sit down with a lot of students from different colleges, different majors, different years [in school], different ages, and different situations who, like I [wouldn’t otherwise meet in] my daily life, and I’ve been able to hear some really cool stories and meet some really cool people through the process.”
Maggie and Jameson were also asked questions, including if they would recommend participating in a Living Room Conversation to friends and family, how they would explain an LRC to someone who hasn’t participated in one, and what they thought the world would look like if more people participated in LRCs. Maggie responded, “I would recommend [participating in an LRC] to anyone that would like to… push a little deeper into these issues [and] bridge divides.”
Regarding describing an LRC, Maggie explained, “[the word] community comes to mind. Even if you’re not passionate about the topic necessarily, it still provides an opportunity to connect with other people through the art of conversation.” She continued, “[I would explain it] worthwhile because conversation is a practice, and from every conversation, you’re able to learn and grow.”
Third, if more people participated in LRCs, said Jameson, “I think [there could] be more of a willingness and openness to discuss issues rather than an animosity to those who think differently, and I would hope that would ultimately lead to a little bit less division politically.” Further mentioned Maggie, “[it] would lead to a culture that’s more focused on listening than speaking over others and kindness in general.”
Lastly, Maggie and Jameson were asked if they experienced anything during their experience with the project and LRCs that they didn’t expect. Jameson mentioned, “One thing I didn’t expect was that [most] of the time when people have this very intentional space to have these conversations [they] are incredibly respectful and patient [in] the conversations. This was a little bit surprising because that has not always been my experience outside of this structure, particularly in online discourse and on social media [where there is] a lot more animosity and unwillingness to listen. I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the effect that the intentionality of that space has on people’s willingness to be open and hear other people out.”
Jameson also noted, “The Living Room Conversations model has been key to us being able to create this product project and engage the students on campus,” and Maggie continued, “I think the breadth of topics that LRC has been helpful because, like, in any partnership that we go into, it’s easy to identify a topic that would lead to greater engagement and format it with the appropriate questions and discussion, so it’s been very helpful.”
- NC State University 101. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ncsu.edu/about/
- Campus Conversations Project. (2022). Retrieved from https://oe.ncsu.edu/ccp/
- Photo Credit: NC State University 101. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ncsu.edu/about/
Written by Cassidy Weaver, Living Room Conversations Community Engagement Partner
