In this episode, Jeannie, Owen, and Rachel talk about when they experience connection to themselves and others, and also how some of the messages they’ve received throughout their lives make it challenging to connect.
IDP Resource: Listening & Learning with "I" Statements
Episode 6. Connection
Discussion Questions
- What helps you feel connected to yourself? Connected to others?
- Which communication skills help you connect with others?
- How do you adjust your communication when connecting with someone new? Someone you’re already connected to?
- How do you adjust your communication when connecting with someone whose social identity differs from your own? Someone who shares your social identity?
- How do you see vulnerability showing up in your relationships with others?
Writing Prompt
In this episode, each person expresses having a complicated experience with their own emotions and learning how to accept and express their feelings over time. How would you describe the relationship between emotions (e.g., being aware of one’s own feelings, expressing one’s emotions and having candid conversations about feelings with others) and authentic connections? How do you think your social identities (e.g., gender, race, socioeconomic status) have shaped the way you experience your emotions?
Related Readings
- How to become a scientist of your own emotions (Suttie, 2019)
- Navigating the coming out conversation —from both sides (Tu & Low, 2020)
- What I learned by learning my family’s recipes in the most trying of times (Tadepalli, 2020)
- Varied friendships make students more tolerant (Johnson, 2019)
Experiment with IDP’s latest offering: Listening & Learning with the “I” Statements podcast. This guide is an accompaniment to our podcast, “I” Statements, where people with different identities come together to share their own beliefs, experiences, and perspectives, demonstrating both the power and the possibility inherent in communicating across difference.
These episode guides are for people who would like to incorporate the podcast into their work with students and/or colleagues.
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Cite this IDP Resource:
- APA: Intergroup Dialogue Project. (2020, September). IDP Resource: Listening & Learning with “I” Statements, Episode 6. Connection. Intergroup Dialogue Project – Dialogue Across Difference. https://idp.cornell.edu/idp-resources/idp-resource-listening-and-learning-with-i-statements/idp-resource-listening-and-learning-with-i-statements-episode-6/
- MLA: Intergroup Dialogue Project. “IDP Resource: Listening & Learning with “I” Statements, Episode 6. Connection.” Intergroup Dialogue Project – Dialogue Across Difference, Cornell University, September 2020, https://idp.cornell.edu/idp-resources/idp-resource-listening-and-learning-with-i-statements/idp-resource-listening-and-learning-with-i-statements-episode-6/
- Chicago: Intergroup Dialogue Project, “IDP Resource: Listening & Learning with “I” Statements, Episode 6. Connection,” Intergroup Dialogue Project – Dialogue Across Difference, Cornell University, September 2020, https://idp.cornell.edu/idp-resources/idp-resource-listening-and-learning-with-i-statements/idp-resource-listening-and-learning-with-i-statements-episode-6/