Community members of the University of Connecticut are invited to an interactive group workshop on Tuesday, Feb. 25, featuring Professor Irshad Manji at the Student Union Ballroom.
As this year’s Metanoia theme, “Pathways to Productive Civil Discourse,” Manji held a keynote presentation on Feb. 9 at the Student Union theatre informing students on what Moral Courage means.
After a discussion with the speaker, students can practice the skills of Moral Courage during the upcoming workshop.
The workshop will feature the screening of Manji’s documentary “Mississippi Turning” and an interactive discussion. Following the viewing, students will have the opportunity to participate in “Change the Game,” an interactive session where “teams vie to score the most points by demonstrating as many Moral Courage skills as possible during a conversation that begins contentiously,” according to an email from UConn Metanoia.
In a text interview, Manji shared that it is a “team-based game that motivates us to practice, in a hilarious way, the skills of moral courage.”
After she leaves campus, participants of “Change the Game” will be asked if they would like to become Varsity Moral Courage Mentors.
According to the Moral Courage Project website, “As a certified Mentor, you’ll teach people how to achieve diversity without division by practicing the Moral Courage Method of communicating across divides.” In a Zoom interview with Manji, she added that mentors will teach their peers Moral Courage skills.
Manji explained that UConn leadership wants to develop Moral Courage mentors.
Choosing to become a Moral Courage mentor has many mental health benefits. Manji shared that the stress and anxiety that students feel disappear because “you are lifting the burden off your shoulders of always having to be right.” However, the benefits expand further. Manji added that by being a Moral Courage mentor, students will be able to “think critically and bring people together.”
Lastly, a certified mentor can put their skills on their resume. Manji said these skills “are exactly what employers are wanting today,” because “this is what AI cannot do.” She emphasized in her keynote presentation and during the interview that AI cannot build trust nor develop teams that trust each other.
In an email interview with Dr. Jennifer Lease Butts, the associate vice provost for enrichment programs, she shared how UConn’s interest in offering opportunities for students to become Moral Courage mentors was born.
“As we began planning and having conversations with University Senate members, members of the Provost’s office, and the Metanoia Committee members, we talked about a shared goal that this Metanoia would be more than just a single program,” she said. “We hoped that through engaging in a series of programs, we would be able to create more learning opportunities for the entire UConn community.”
According to Manji, this opportunity will be available to current first-year students, sophomores and juniors. Those that sign up will receive training sometime later this year. Lease Butts added that UConn will be able to train four participants free of cost.
“Through our partnership with the Moral Courage Network, we will have the opportunity to meet the active learning goals and will also be able to ensure that additional conversations and learning on this topic can continue via our campus mentors,” Lease Butts added.
There will be two workshop sessions: one from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., and a second from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.