In a campus conversation hosted as part of a new Discovery Through Dialogue community project, psychologist and author Jamil Zaki shared practical strategies for cultivating common ground.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] - To Jamil Zaki, cynicism isn't just a mindset: it's a self-fulfilling prophecy.
"If you think less of others, you ask less of others," said Zaki, a professor of psychology at Stanford University who studies the power of social connection. "And if you ask less of others, you receive less from others. You really get what you give."
At Brown University's Salomon Center for Teaching, Zaki discussed the perils of cynicism - and the benefits of replacing it with hope - with Brown President Christina H. Paxson in a Monday, Feb. 3, conversation aptly titled "Hope for Cynics: Discovering Common Ground and Building Cultures of Trust."
Jointly hosted by Brown's Community Dialogue Project and Office of the President, the discussion marked the first event of Discovery Through Dialogue, a new campus-wide project to create more opportunities for students, faculty and staff to advance dialogue skills and participate in meaningful conversations across a wide range of perspectives. The project establishes a comprehensive set of pathways for engagement and skill-building - and to an auditorium packed with more than 350 attendees, Zaki helped lay the foundation.
