Building Capacity for Critical, yet Civil, Discourse in Graduate and Medical Training Environments at HMS

Critical, yet “civil,” discourse is foundational to scientific, medical, and other scholarly enterprises. We present and defend our own ideas while providing constructive critiques of others’ work in service of common goals such as elucidating new knowledge or effective healthcare delivery. More broadly, the ability to engage others in substantive - and at times, challenging - dialogue is central to our professional activities by enabling us to meaningfully connect with colleagues. Only in constant, collaborative exchange can we make sense of emerging knowledge and the complex and ever-changing societal context in which our professional activities occur. Thus, creating spaces in which civil discourse can occur within our local graduate and medical education spheres serves the overarching mission of HMS: “To nurture a diverse, inclusive community dedicated to alleviating suffering and improving health and well-being for all through excellence in teaching and learning, discovery and scholarship, and service and leadership.”

In this workshop, we invite students to network with colleagues and collaboratively discuss examples of, and barriers to, civil discourse in the local graduate and medical training contexts here at HMS and in broader professional contexts (e.g., academic conferences, professional societies, and publishing). We will reflect on the different spaces that graduate/medical students occupy, including the classroom, laboratory, clinic, and broader departmental/institutional contexts. We will introduce concepts such as safe vs. brave spaces, controversy with civility, and inclusive listening to frame collaborative brainstorming discussions on how we as a community can build capacity for productive discourse in these settings. Our goal is for this session to seed future ideas and efforts for building capacity for constructive discourse at HMS and beyond.

In participating in this workshop, attendees will:

• Reflect on the importance of civil discourse in the scientific/medical professions broadly and in local training environments at HMS
• Identify barriers to civil discourse in various HMS training contexts
• Discuss frameworks and strategies to foster civil discourse
• Generate specific ideas to build capacity for civil discourse within graduate/medical training contexts at HMS

Audience: This HMS-hosted workshop will be in-person and is open to HILS PhD students, HMS Master’s students, medical students, and HSDM students.

Registration link: https://forms.office.com/r/2YS7rvyrY6