An Evaluation of Dialogue: The Relationship Between Potential Friendships and Learning Outcomes

Dialogue when successful is the product of honest conversations amongst those who have conflicting identities. The study presented here seeks to determine whether the relationship building process and the learning processes that happen here are related to each other within the whole transformation process that dialogue offers. A mixed method of research and background work in the theories of contact and dialogue provided a strong base for the voices of those dialogue participants at American University to be heard. Relationships built with the potential for friendships and learning in different ways facilitate the success of the dialogue process in this case. Finally, hearing first-hand accounts of the dialogue experience solidified that for a majority of the dialogue participants the magic of dialogue was evident through the transformation of opinions. These transformations occurred by being open to experiencing both the relationship building process and learning processes possible in dialogue.