Law School Resources

Difficult Dialogs and Controversial Content

Applied Strategies for Addressing Conflict, Questioned Knowledge, & Incivility in Class

The Faculty Focus Special Report on Diversity and Inclusion in the College Classroom

"Managing Hot Moments in the Classroom: Concrete Strategies for Cooling Down Tension" (p. 4)
"Seven Bricks to Lay the Foundation for Productive Difficult Dialogues" (p. 6)
"Overcoming Racial Tension: Using Student Voices to Create Safe Spaces in the Classroom" (p. 9)
"Managing Microaggressions in the College Classroom" (p. 10)

The Dying Art of Disagreement New York Times article about the value of disagreement…and how to disagree with civility.

Calling In: A Quick Guide on When and How by Sian Ferguson
Distinction between calling out and calling in as ways to get someone to stop an oppressive behavior (calling in attempts to do this in the most loving, self-respecting way possible)

Responding to Microaggressions with Microresistance: A Framework for Consideration by Cynthia Ganote, Floyd Cheung, and Tasha Souza (pp. 3-7)
Theory of how microresistance can be an effective response to microaggression

Guidelines for Discussing Difficult or Controversial Topics from the University of Michigan’s Center for Research on Learning and Teaching

Start Talking: A Handbook for Engaging Controversy in Higher Education, ed. Kay Landis, University of Alaska Anchorage, introduces faculty to strategies for introducing controversial topics in the classroom. Additional info: University of Alaska-Anchorage’s Center for Advancing Faculty Excellence

There Is No Apolitical Classroom: Resources for Teaching in These Times
Post created by members of NCTE's Standing Committee Against Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English.

Understanding Student and Faculty Incivility in Higher Education from the Journal of Effective Teaching

Teaching, Learning, & Traumatic Events

Teaching after Charlottesville by Derek Bruff
A review of best-practices for faculty-student interactions after a traumatic event and resources specific to teaching in the wake of violence at Charlottesville in 2017

Discussing Traumatic Events from UC Berkeley
Guidelines on how to prepare for and structure a discussion, if you choose to do so

Resources for teachers on talking about hatred in America from the Washington Post’s Valerie Strauss

Brené Brown on Empathy (video)
3-minute video on distinction between empathy and sympathy with strategies about how to listen to and connect with someone who is suffering

Gender, Race, Ethnicity, & Identity

Stop Talking: Indigenous Ways of Teaching and Learning and Difficult Dialogues in Higher Education by Libby Roderick and Ilarion Merculieff, introduces faculty to 10,000-year old Alaska Native pedagogies as well as key difficult dialogues between indigenous and academic communities. Additional info: University of Alaska-Anchorage’s Center for Advancing Faculty Excellence

Eight Actions to Reduce Racism in College Classrooms by Harper, S.R. & Davis, C. H.F.

Responding to Everyday Bigotry from Southern Poverty Law Center
Strategies for responding to bigotry at work, home, in public, and in yourself

Self-Care Resources for Days When the World Is Terrible compiled by Miriam Zoila Pérez
Ideas for how to maintain health, sanity, and integrity and includes resources for everyone but especially for people of color and LGBTQ individuals

Students rate male instructors more highly than female instructors. We tried to counter that hidden bias. The Washington Post

Calling attention to gender bias dramatically changes course evaluations Iowa State University

Mitigating gender bias in student evaluations of teaching Plos One

Culturally Responsive Teaching in Higher Education: What Professors Need to Know from Counterpoints, V.391