Community Conversations

The Community Conversations program was created with the belief that facilitated conversation engages a community better than rhetoric and argument.

“The most meaningful part of the experience for me was having the opportunity to connect with people I may not have normally had the opportunity to connect with in my day-to-day life; to vulnerably discuss a topic that I don't usually discuss.

All of it worked well. I was grateful that someone chimed in to disagree or challenge one of the participants - it kind of broke the ice in a way that hadn't happened because everyone was being so polite. Reminded me of the "real" conversations I used to have with friends in college that don't seem to happen as much anymore -- just a regular meaningful conversation, nothing more, nothing less. Thanks!” —Community Conversation participant

Utah Humanities Conversation Facilitation Training Program

Utah Humanities offers a three-day training course several times a year to train community members and nonprofit professionals how to facilitate reflective, empathetic, and difficult topical conversations through a humanities lens. The course will include two full days of intensive training on the components of creating an effective conversation, and the final day will be a chance for all participants to both facilitate and participate in conversations themselves. The trainings are available for a small fee on a sliding scale. Need-based scholarships are also available for individuals. 

Skills learned:

Creating Safe and Brave Spaces
Dealing with Difficult People
Discussing Hard Topics

Upcoming Conversation Facilitation Trainings:

Salt Lake City: February 23-25, 2022 (FULL)

Next training TBD

If you are interested in being added to the waitlist for upcoming Conversation Facilitation Trainings, click here.

Community Conversation in a Box: Witnessing the Great Salt Lake

With a Conversation in a Box, community members throughout Utah will be able to hold immersive, meaningful conversations at home. This box includes all the instructions, tips, and tools to create a local event or home-based dialogue focusing on the Great Salt Lake, free of charge!

Created in partnership with Nan Seymour of the River Writing Collective, we are hopeful that this box will allow Utahns to reflect on the importance of the lake in our lives, and exercise their creative minds.

If you would like to request a box to be sent to your home, please click here, and visit this page for more information on our Conversation in a Box program

We ask that if you request a box, you agree to be contacted by Utah Humanities for information about your event/conversation within 6 months of receipt (how many people attended, whether the objects included were helpful, etc).

Community Conversations has received generous support from Zions Bank for continuing conversations on deeply relevant social topics.