Student Dialogue Leader for PHIL 103: "How Should I Live?" Philosophy and the Good Life
(This position is open to non-Federal Work Study and Federal Work Study eligible students.)
In the class, PHIL 103 "How Should I Live?" Philosophy and the Good Life which will be in Spring 2023, there are 2-3 student Dialogue Leaders. A Student Dialogue Leader is responsible for leading a small group discussion with students who are taking PHIL 103. For information about the course assignments, and course vision, see the course website.
Each Student Dialogue Leader will lead the same small group of students during the entire Spring semester so that everyone gets comfortable with each other to share their informed opinions in relation to assigned texts. Part of the goal is to build a culture of trust, respect, honesty, and inclusion.
The Student Dialogue Group meetings will take place 12 times (over the 15 week semester) during the usual Friday class meeting time (though an alternative day/time is possible). For each of the 12 weeks, a Student Dialogue Leader is expected to work for 3 hours and 15 minutes per week: 75 minutes in leading discussion, 60 minutes in meeting with Prof. Williams to discuss how things are going, and 120 minutes in preparing to lead the small group discussion group (this includes sending Prof. Williams a lesson plan at least 24 hours before each Dialogue Group meeting).
General Expectations: As a dialogue leader, there are four primary obligations:
- To be familiar with the content of all readings assigned for the course.
- To organize your weekly dialogue group meetings, filing a lesson plan no later than 24 hours before each dialogue group meeting. (There is a Dialogue Facilitator Manual with lots of guidance on leading a dialogue group, plus examples of activities to stimulate good dialogue.)
- To meet with Prof. Williams for each of the 12 weeks to recap the previous week's small group discussion group, and discuss the upcoming week's small group discussion group.
- To take attendance at the end of each meeting. Students earn credit for having attended and participated in the discussion.
Each Student Dialogue Leader will be listed on the course website. For an example of the Fall 2021 Student Dialogue Team, see this link.
A special requirement for this position is that you are current UNC Asheville student, and you have already taken a Philosophy course at UNC Asheville and earned a "B+" or higher in that Philosophy course (no exceptions). You must be confident enough to lead group discussion with peer UNC Asheville students. You must be responsible and reliable in preparing for all meetings.
There will be some training sessions before the Spring 2023 semester begins so that each Student Dialogue Leader is prepared and supported going into leading discussions in a small group.