Dialogue Series

campus police officer and femal student talking at eat learn dialogue event

Beginning in 2012, the Communication Leadership Lab has hosted two dialogue series spanning seven years.

  • Eat. Learn. Series

    The Eat. Learn. Discussion Series places food at the center of campus and community dialogue and deliberation. Initiated with partner Shift Farm to Table Eatery in Frostburg, the series continued with community partner Whole Harvest Co-op and then the Western Maryland Food Council.

    2021 Eat. Learn. Series Installment

    GROWING A HEALTHY FOOD SYSTEM IN A PANDEMIC WORLD

    The Western Maryland Food Council will host a virtual three-day conference titled, “Our Food, Our Future: Growing a Healthy Food System in a Pandemic World” on March 25, April 1 and April 8. The conference is open to anyone interested in issues related to the Western Maryland food system, including farmers, vendors, food producers, economic development professionals, health and nutrition professionals, food security advocates and others.

    The final session of the conference will be an open community dialogue, Eat. Learn. Council. FSU's Communication Leadership Lab and ACM partner, the Democracy Commitment Committee, facilitate a discussion about what was learned as part of Allegany County's Day of Civility from 2-3 p.m. on Thurs., April 8.

    Previous Eat. Learn. Discussions

    Saudi student speaking to groupThe Eat. Learn. series began in 2016 with a community dialogue on food and culture was held in April 2016. Students and community members gathered to enjoy, learn and dialogue about Saudi culture and cuisine and to share their own experiences with food and culture. A partnership was born between FSU's Communication Leadership Lab and Shift Farm to Table Eatery.

    The series has since continued to bring together community members each spring to address how the region can work together to address a variety of topics including:

    • how support a sustainable food system;
    • how to eat healthy food on a college student’s budget;
    • how to support our local food economy and its partnerships;
    • how to address food security issues on and off campus; and
    • how to address food waste locally.

    We've also added several new partners since the first Eat. Learn. discussion. Partners now include Allegany College of Maryland (ACM), Wholesome Harvest Co-op and Western Maryland Food Council without whom we could not continue this important dialogue.

  • Sustaining Campus and Community Dialogue Series

    A dialogue series held in Frostburg, MD, from 2012-2015

    The Sustaining Campus and Community Dialogue Series was a series of dialogues about creating a non-violent culture, with the aim of strengthening long and short-term resident relationships.

    The series was sponsored by FSU with generous support from Maryland Judiciary’s Mediation and Conflict Resolution Office (MACRO) and community partner Mountainside Community Mediation Center (MCMC). Additional co-sponsors included FSU’s Communication Studies program, the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights, and NAACP local branch No. 7007.

    The dialogue continued in Spring 2015 with a session held to discuss and strengthen police-community relationships. 

    Actions and Outcomes