Ben Honan & Salem Khalaf
November 3, 2025 2025-12-06 18:41
Ben Honan & Salem Khalaf
School: UAB Heersink School of Medicine
Academic Mentor: Dr. Caroline Harada
Site Mentor: Rachel Mosness
Site: David Mathews Center for Civic Life
Salem and Ben facilitated dialogues around controversial topics with students in two public schools, as well as extracurricular organizations (GirlSpring, Youth Leadership Birmingham, PEACE Birmingham). They used deliberation guides about historical turning points (Civil Rights Movement, Women’s Suffrage) from the National Issues Forum Institute to structure many of these conversations. By the end of their project, they facilitated dialogues among high schoolers about hot button issues like gun control, abortion, and immigration.
Project Results
- Connected with 22 Alabama teachers through the DMC summer workshop, and
- Participated in 7 PEACE Birmingham events, 2 ACE Heritage Panels, 6 Youth Leadership Birmingham (YLB) events, and
- Instructed 4 online workshops (YLB and GirlSpring) on dialogue skills and mediated conversations on topics like abortion, gun control, immigration, and
- Piloted deliberative forums across 4 classes at 2 Tuscaloosa high schools
- 50% of respondents indicated an improvement in confidence
- 65% of respondents believe that their awareness of CQ and CD improved
- 60% believe the sessions promote invaluable life skills
- 82% indicated a greater desire and self-efficacy to advocate for themselves and others.
- 50% indicated a moderate improvement in their desire and self-efficacy to advocate
- 86% of respondents indicated a greater desire to learn about the perspectives of others
- Tags: Children (0–12), Population Served, School
