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Beyond echo chambers impasse binaries sides gridlock

We can
solve problems
with our opponents.

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Learn about our "Red-Blue" Dialogues

World in Conversation

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Beyond echo chambers impasse binaries sides gridlock

We can
solve problems
with our opponents.

World in Conversation is advancing collaboration problem-solving across divides. Based on founding director Laurie Mulvey’s unique research-based approach, we offer dialogue and training opportunities for students, faculty, community groups, and professionals in all settings.

1,500+Trained Facilitators

567,000+Participants

57,000+Dialogues

30+Countries

Where differences become a source of possibility.

Our facilitators move groups from a place where differences and divides are in competition, to one where differences can be scaffolded into a larger vision.

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Laurie Mulvey, Founding Director

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World in Conversation Headlines

Expanding dialogue in the community

In a time when conversations too often end in conflict, Dr. Laurie Mulvey believes the key to healing isn’t avoiding disagreement, but rather leaning into it. The center’s newest effort, the “Red-Blue Dialogues,” brings conservatives and liberals together in structured group settings. The goal isn’t to change minds but to cultivate understanding and cooperation on shared problems. While empathy often emerges from these exchanges, Mulvey said it’s not the goal. “Empathy happens, but the goal is building solutions with our opponents,” she explained. “You don’t build the world with your friends. You build it with your opponents. Otherwise, you don’t build it at all.”
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Published October 24, 2025

Dr. Laurie Mulvey Delivers Keynote Speech at NATO Conference in London

Dr. Laurie Mulvey, Director of the World in Conversation Center at Penn State University, was the keynote speaker at a NATO research conference in London in May of 2024. The conference, entitled Leadership Development for Multinational Military Operations, was designed to bring together leadership experts to address multinational military and civil leaders, researchers, and NATO partners.

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Published January 21, 2025

Alumna Makes Impactful Gifts

With a total commitment of $34,000, Penn State College of the Liberal Arts alumna Cassandra Matos has supported a program that played a fundamental role in shaping her experience as a student and future professional. Her gift to World in Conversation (WinC) will help the program to engage the Penn State community in honest conversations on difficult topics through facilitated dialogues across the University and beyond.
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Published October 9, 2024

Looking back on our global conference, “Beyond Borders: An International Collaboration to Advance Public Diplomacy”

Some of our colleagues recently traveled to Penn State University from around the world to attend a conference hosted by World in Conversation. Learn how they make it possible for us to serve people and communities with needs, interests, and risk factors that may be vastly different from one another.

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Published September 9, 2024

Dr. Laurie Mulvey speaks internationally at Democracy Summit DemocracyXChange

During Canada’s recent Democracy Summit DemocracyXChange, Dr. Laurie Mulvey presented a case for how conflict facilitators are necessary for people to meaningfully collaborate across deep divides in order to build solutions for our most pressing social problems.

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Published April 29, 2024

World in Conversation co-founders offer matching funds challenge

A $25,000 bequest from Mulvey and Richards will support the “Fund for a World in Conversation,” and they have promised additional support from their estate as an incentive for others to contribute in order to activate the endowment.
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Published April 11, 2023
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