Engaging Diversity and Political Tensions in a Complex Work Environment

Keywords: in-house fishbowl, diversity, political tensions, divided society, academics' experiences, natural spaces of encounter  

Abstract: The novel session will explore the perplexing experiences of academics working in the context of divided societies. It is designed as “in-house fishbowl” including participants who are academic staff at a college in Northern Israel. The fishbowl discussion will address our experiences in building a partnership among the academic staff, administrators and students designed to develop a framework to constructively cope with diversity and political tensions in a complex work environment. The fishbowl will begin with the participants describing their encounter at the interface of diversity and political tension, their experiences of these encounters, and what they have learned from them. Members of the audience will then be invited to join the fishbowl so that they can respond to the participants' remarks and share their own relevant experiences. The fishbowl discussion is relevant to educators, researchers and practitioners interested in approaches bridging theory and practice to engaging real life conflicts