The Listening Project
The mission of the Listening Project is to address the crisis of connection in and out of schools by teaching a method of “transformative interviewing” that disrupts damaging relational practices that are perpetuated in modern society.
Our empirically proven method fosters listening, interpersonal curiosity, thick connection, and a sense of common humanity. The mechanism by which the method achieves its outcomes is by teaching a set of interviewing practices that allow one to see others outside of a set of dehumanizing stereotypes that lead to a crisis of connection.
The Listening Project is integrated into existing curricula in middle schools and high schools and is a stand-alone curriculum in universities in New York City and around the world. The Listening Project also offers workshops to individuals and organizations.
Principal Investigators: Dr. Niobe Way, Dr. Joseph Nelson, Dr. Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Dr. Jinjoo Han
For more information about the Listening Project, please contact the Director, Holly Van Hare at hollyvanhare@nyu.edu.
Tools of Disruption/Core Constructs
-
Actively, rather than passively, paying attention and understanding in order to ask questions.
-
A strong desire to know or learn something about another person.
-
Connecting to another person by understanding the common humanity you share.
-
To understand another person and/or to answer one’s own thick question.
-
To acknowledge existing teacher-student power structures and dynamics. And choosing to relinquish some teacher power in service of enabling students’ curiosity and promoting thick connection.