The Theory of Being

This book presents a state-of-the-art, robust, and adaptable process, the Theory of Being, that offers strategies for working across Difference, and for embarking on constructive dialogue around the issues that drive us apart, both individually and collectively. Whether around racial, gender, and/or social class inequity, core beliefs, uses of power or other points of cultural conflict, this book offers a research-validated approach, developed and refined over twenty years, to engage in difficult dialogues.

The Theory of Being includes personal, relational, and community practices that support individuals and communities to better work through the difficult dialogues necessary to transform systems of structural inequity. It describes and offers applications of Being to help the reader understand and apply principles and practices that invite openness to controversy through facilitating deep reflection and shifting the focus of conflict from individuals to centering the issue of contention as a Third Thing about which participants can more safely express experiences and emotions.

Via cases and narratives, the editors and contributors demonstrate how, through productively situating feelings of vulnerability and anger, individuals, organizations, and communities can work together to continuously evolve responsive, inclusive, and equitable practices that value social and cultural differences.

This book focuses on strategies for the “how” we interact, demonstrating an orientation to process rather than prioritizing outcomes. A process-orientation can increase the quality of interaction between individuals, and the likelihood of traversing problems associated with controversial social difference in ways that result in sustainable strategies to disrupt systems of oppression. A range of applications exemplify this approach throughout the text.

The primary audience is higher education leaders and leaders-in-training including student affairsprofessional staff, campus administrators, higher education and student affairs faculty, and undergraduate and graduate students. However, the approach has broad implications for any persons who want to productively engage across Difference in their personal and/or professional lives.

Sherry K. Watt, Ph.D., NCC, LPC is a professor in the Higher Education and Student Affairs program the University of Iowa. She is also the co-creator of the Multicultural Initiatives (MCI) Research Team. Prior to becoming a faculty member, she worked as a residence life director and a career counselor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, North Carolina State University, and Shaw University. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies from University of North Carolina at Greensboro and masters and doctoral degrees in Counselor Education, with an emphasis in student affairs, from North Carolina State University. She is also founder of The Being Institute (thebeinginstitute.org). Sherry is a facilitator prepared by the Center for Courage and Renewal. She is the editor of Designing Transformative Multicultural Initiatives: Theoretical Foundations, Practical Applications, and Facilitator Considerations (Stylus, 2015). She has over 25 years of experience in designing and leading educational experiences that involve strategies to engage participants in dialogue that is meaningful, passionate, and self-awakening.

Duhita Mahatmya, Ph.D. is an Associate Research Scientist in the College of Education at the University of Iowa. As a research methodologist for the college, Dr. Mahatmya provides conceptual and analytical support to projects that examine equity issues in K-12 and higher education. Currently, she works with interdisciplinary teams to understand the role of informal learning environments and school-based interventions on academic and psychosocial outcomes of students from historically excluded communities. Herown research interests broadly focus on examining how family, school, and community environments shape the attainment of developmental milestones from early childhood to young adulthood. She has been a part of theMulticultural Initiatives Research team since 2016.

Milad Mohebali (he/his) is a Doctoral Candidate in Educational Policy and Leadership Studies with a focus on Higher Education and Student Affairs at the University of Iowa. He also has a certificate in Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies. Milad’s research broadly involves social justice in education and decolonization. He is particularly interested in examining the role of university in modernity/coloniality project and the ways that racism works in and through universities. As part of his involvement with the MCI research team, Milad also explores what it means to be in anti-racist and anti-colonial dialogues that re-center humanization and Otherwiserelationalities.

Charles R. Martin-Stanley II, Ph.D. is the Director for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity at Mount Mercy University. Dr. Martin-Stanley's research focuses on the persistence and retention of Black college men at historically white institutions. More specifically, he focuses on the racial socialization of Black college men and the agency they have within their own socialization into historically white intuitions. In his role at Mount Mercy University, he is charged with creating a and sustaining a campus environment where diversity, equity, and inclusivity are welcomed and encouraged. Dr. Martin-Stanley uses the Theory of Being by teaching faculty, staff, administrators, and students how to engage in difficult dialogues in a thoughtful and meaningful way.

Parker J. Palmer is a writer, teacher, and activist whose work speaks deeply to people in many walks of life. Author of 10 books that have sold nearly two million copies, he is the Founder and Senior Partner Emeritus of the Center for Courage & Renewal. He holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley, and 13 honorary doctorates.