Riaz Patel is a triple minority: Muslim, an immigrant from Pakistan, and gay. He has been facilitating events at which participants learn to talk across their multiple divides. The article about what he is doing never uses the phrase intercultural dialogue, but it’s a great example nonetheless.
He uses the EPIC system (equalization, personification, information gathering, collaboration). The first challenge is getting people to show up, knowing they will be asked to hold what are at times uncomfortable conversations. Once they are present, activities fall into into 4 stages:
- Equalization (determining what participants have in common)
- Personification (talking about your own experiences)
- Information Gathering (learning about the experiences of others)
- Collaboration (working together to determine strategies to solve shared problems)
Full article: Connecting divides. (2020 May/June). Pennsylvania Gazette, 118(5), 67-68).
Center for Intercultural Dialogue 