How Stetson Law is putting constructive dialogue into students’ hands
At Stetson University College of Law, constructive dialogue is both a campus priority and a professional skill. Lawyers need to listen across differences, engage opposing viewpoints, and manage conflict with professionalism. Stetson Law partnered with the Constructive Dialogue Institute (CDI) to give students opportunities to learn and practice those skills and help shape how their peers approach disagreement.
The partnership combines workshops for student leaders with a phased introduction of Perspectives, CDI’s online learning program. Together, these experiences are designed to make dialogue part of students’ preparation for legal practice.
The Challenge
As campuses nationwide have encountered tension over current events, campus speakers, and differing views, Stetson Law’s leaders realized that they never explicitly asked a crucial question—perhaps the most crucial question—for any learning community: What do we owe each other as members of a learning community when we disagree? The answer is too important to leave implicit or unexamined. D. Benjamin Barros, dean of Stetson University College of Law, asks each 1L class exactly this during Orientation.
That work cannot stop at Orientation. While listening across differences is central to legal practice, students do not always have structured opportunities to develop that skill during law school. The college wanted an approach that would strengthen its campus culture while helping students build habits they could carry into their careers.
The Partnership
Stetson Law began with a Foundations in Constructive Dialogue workshop tailored to law school student leaders. Through practice and scenarios relevant to legal education, participants explored how to listen for underlying values, ask constructive questions, and navigate disagreement. Starting with student leaders also gave Stetson Law an opportunity to gather their feedback and build support for the wider initiative.
The college then began a phased rollout of Perspectives, CDI’s online learning program. Its lessons introduce practical dialogue skills, while structured peer conversations give students a chance to apply what they learn. The initial phase involves selected Stetson Inns, mentoring groups of first-year and upper-class students. Conversations adapted to a legal context are led by the Dean’s Fellows for Civil Discourse.
Student leadership is central to the effort. As Dean Barros said in Stetson Law’s announcement of the initiative:
We are training leaders, so we want our students to themselves set our community’s expectation for civil discourse.
CDI is supporting implementation and providing analytics reports as Stetson Law works toward a planned rollout to all incoming students.
Outcomes
Stetson Law has established a student-led foundation for its dialogue initiative: leaders have received training, the Dean’s Fellows have a role in guiding peer conversations, and the college has begun introducing Perspectives across the student body.
The wider rollout and its impact on students are still to be assessed. For now, the partnership offers an example of how a law school can connect dialogue skills to professional preparation and give students an active role in shaping a culture of inquiry, dialogue, and free expression.