Disagree Better: Empathy Gym

Subgroup Size

Pairs

Duration

1 hour

External Cost

No

Lesson Plan

Source

Activity adapted by Lindsey Macdonald, CILMAR graduate assistant, from the following:

 

Vendantam, S. (Host). (2019, July 29). You 2.0: The empathy gym [Audio podcast episode]. In Hidden brain. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2019/07/22/744195502/you-2-0-the-empathy-gym

 

Alda, A. (Host). (2019, December 17). Jamil Zaki on empathy and how to hack it [Audio podcast episode]. In Clear + vivid. Omny Studio. https://omny.fm/shows/clear-vivid-with-alan-alda/jamil-zaki-on-empathy-and-how-to-hack-it

Tags:

  1. CILMAR staff collection
  2. communication
  3. conflict
  4. dialogue
  5. emotional resilience
  6. empathy

Facilitators may choose to use the 6 Differences tool to split participants into pairs. 

The facilitator may also help participants choose partners by providing a particular topic that they may disagree on. That topic does not necessarily have to be controversial (like a political issue). It could be something like favorite type of movie, favorite sports teams, veganism/vegetarianism vs. omnivorism, etc.