Small Group Conflict and Collaboration

The undergraduate certificate in Small Group Conflict and Collaboration is designed and delivered by the World in Conversation (WinC), Penn State’s undergraduate center for public diplomacy. Students who complete this 15-credit certificate will be trained dialogue facilitators: they will have an understanding of the forces that shape human communication on the interpersonal, societal, and global levels, and they will be able to apply this understanding by leading small group dialogues, applying a unique communication methodology developed by WinC over two decades. WinC is a laboratory for the sociological study of small groups and facilitation techniques that make communication across borders possible. As such, the study of facilitated dialogue that a student undertakes at WinC is truly “applied sociology”—because sociological concepts practically intersect with and shape communication technologies. The combination of mindset and skills that a facilitator develops as a result of this fusion of disciplines is what makes impossible conversations possible. While students at WinC are trained in the specific academic context of applied sociology, trained facilitators are necessary in all environments in which human beings conflict and collaborate. As such, the competencies developed through this certificate are relevant across all academic disciplines. This certificate will prepare students to take on key roles in high level decision-making in education, politics, business, or law. They might also use this credential to build a career in areas as varied as science, medicine, organizational change and leadership, social policy, business management, marketing, social work, and education.