Higher Education

Around the world, the polarization and radicalization of groups who have lost faith in their fellow humans is increasing. We are seeing a troubling rise in generalizations and manipulative propaganda that encourage dehumanization of our fellow human family members. Stuck in our silos and connecting primarily through technology during COVID-19, we have diminished opportunities for [...]

Challenges: feed the hungry, respond to crises and disasters, deal with recessions. Listen. In a previous article, “Listening as Service”, we have explored how we can serve others through safe, effective and compassionate listening: “Listening is built around and is supported by the other essential human behaviors: trust, care, curiosity, reason, and patience.” That article [...]

What are the qualities of listening that are relevant to the discussion of racism? And what is the legacy of racism in American society? This paper explores these issues based on principles from social psychology to explain how racist biases impede empathy and understanding. The starting points are an overview of listening in the context [...]

Prejudice against a person’s race is not confined to one country or culture, nor is it a new phenomenon.  But this spring’s agonizing death of George Floyd, witnessed by the world via video, at the hands (and knees) of police, resulted in a world-wide firestorm of protest and violence. New York Times columnist David Brooks, [...]

Invited to offer my commentary on racism, I do so from the view of an interracial counselor/trainer with much experience in the U.S. and elsewhere. Global listener herein refers to those ascribing to the ideals and definition of listening set forth by the Global Listening Centre. Why would racism be of import to the global [...]

Global listening1 is a contextualized or multimodal approach. It involves being attuned to the totality of verbal and nonverbal inputs. Let’s consider how the mixed message can derail otherwise effective listening, an illustration meant as a small contribution to the field of listening. Take Box 12 by way of illustration:This person a distraught loner smiles [...]

“Pockets of U.S. Still Resisting Urgent Mantra to Stay at Home” read a front page headline in The Washington Post on April 3.  Indeed, a major challenge of managing the horrific health and economic consequences of the Coronavirus epidemic has been to convince people throughout the world to take seriously the need to social distance.  [...]

Abstract Some scholars in the field of Communication have tended to largely focus on the production of utterances and the effective creation of informative and persuasive speeches, interpersonal, intercultural, business, and other types of communication, sometimes controlled by the sender of a message. Subsequently, these areas are often taught to the exclusion of listening as [...]

What is the relationship of spirituality to listening? How does this relationship fit into our understanding of communication? Why is it important? For over twenty-two years, the premise of my work has been that listening is a sacred art and a spiritual practice. Even though historically these terms have most frequently been ascribed to religion, [...]

In my current (nearly two decades now!) role as a Communication professor, I emphasize to my students—especially those enrolled in my Public Relations courses—the critical importance of listening to those who have an interest in your organization’s activities and ensuring that their concerns are addressed appropriately. British philosopher George Edward Moore said it so clearly [...]