Dr. Sharon Chamard, Justice Center faculty, will be assisting on a project funded by the Alaska Humanities Forum called “Strengthening Community through Conversation: Difficult Dialogues about Homelessness in Anchorage.” Dr. Susan Bomalaski, the Executive Director of Catholic Social Services, will lead the project which entails convening a series of five community dialogues around the issue of homelessness in Anchorage.Dr. Chamard’s role, as the Humanities Scholar, will be to identify and invite prospective participants from the community, and review the questions that will be asked at the dialogues.
The goals of the project are to “honor the human connection, create a community where all are valued, and provide a forum where people with divergent views are given the opportunity to move towards seeing the ‘Other’ as self.”
The project will begin in 2011 and continue through the year. A final report will be issued which includes a compilation of survey results from the participants in the five dialogues. The events for this project are planned to be held on the UAA Campus.
