Permanent link for Setting the Table for Listening Across Michigan | By Kyle Kooyers, Director of Operations, Kaufman Interfaith Institute, and Lisa Perhamus, Director, Padnos/Sarosik Center for Civil Discourse on September 23, 2025

Now, more than ever, it feels as though we are at an impasse of listening and understanding. The competing narratives of our current political and social landscape have deepened animosity and amplified bias as we struggle to make sense of our neighbors’ views of the world. That is precisely why the Kaufman Interfaith Institute values our ongoing collaboration with the Padnos/Sarosik Center for Civil Discourse, Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies, and WGVU Public Media on Talking Together: Strengthening Our Communities Through Conversation.  

This dialogue initiative was designed to interrupt polarization and foster a culture of conversation on campus and in surrounding communities. The collaboration began in 2022-2023 as a year-long Grand Valley Presidential Initiative with a number of opportunities for students, faculty, staff, and community members to engage in conversation with one another across differences in perspective, identity, and life experiences. 

This year, we are returning to build upon those foundational strategies and techniques from Year One by intentionally leaning into spaces of deep listening and storytelling from a multiplicity of perspectives. We are excited to be working with our Talking Together partners on piloting a statewide depolarizing project called Michigan Listens. This initiative aims to amplify the values and lived experiences of everyday Michiganders through storytelling. 

The stories from around our state are vast, varied, and dynamic. Michigan Listens spotlights stories of Michiganders who represent a range of geographies, ideologies, identities, life experiences, and vocations, bringing them together for an evening of storytelling that collectively represents pure Michigan. 

As speakers share their stories, the audience listens deeply, remaining silent throughout the event. Without the distraction of talking or clapping, the listening of this event seeks to remind people of and center them in each other’s humanity.  

After the storytelling, listeners and speakers share a family-style dinner together. As people share this meal and pass dishes between them, conversations about the impact of listening to each other as Michiganders round out the evening. 

Michigan Listens is inspired and supported by Boise State University’s Idaho Listens project, with additional support from GVSU’s Office of the President. The limited audience for this initiative is being carefully curated to reflect the geographical regions of our state, the communities of our speakers, and the core intention of cultivating a space that centers listening over debate. For those who are interested in watching or hearing what is shared, we will be posting a recording of Michigan Listens shortly after the gathering. 

Posted by Elamin Gasim Ibrahim Gasim on Permanent link for Setting the Table for Listening Across Michigan | By Kyle Kooyers, Director of Operations, Kaufman Interfaith Institute, and Lisa Perhamus, Director, Padnos/Sarosik Center for Civil Discourse on September 23, 2025.