By Cheril Lee
Omaha, NE – Nebraska Humanities Council is piloting a new program called "Nebraska Conversations: A Guide for Civil Discussion."
Executive Director Chris Sommerich says the series is meant to provide Nebraska communities with an outlet for safe and comfortable discussions about important issues. He says the idea for "Nebraska Conversations" came about a few years ago when the NHC board of directors looked at how the organization could help encourage civil dialogue on issues that matter to Nebraskans. He says the NHC expects to do somewhere between two and four of these programs this year, "and then evaluate how things went. It will probably be very different each time we do this. It will depend on what the issue is and on what's happening in that community. It may require a different structure, different facilitators depending on the issue. And so we know we need to do a few of these before we get an idea for what works and what doesn't going forward."
Any nonprofit or governmental groups who are interested are welcome to apply. The NHC will provide funding for meeting space and materials, facilitators and more. Details are available online at nebraskahumanities.org.