Slow Dialogue - SNF Paideia Program at the University of Pennsylvania

Slow Dialogue: Reflective, Not Reflexive

In the fall of 2025, the SNF Paideia Program invited ten members of the University of Pennsylvania community to take part in an experiment, testing out a creative structure and format for dialogue.

graphic with name of the Slow Dialogue project with a snail illustration with the colors yellow, grey, and brown

taking time to reflect

Our hypothesis was that asking (and, indeed, requiring!) people to wait for several days before responding to what they heard from their dialogue partners would pay dividends.

Speaking As Equals

The tempo of these slow dialogues wasn’t the only unusual thing about them. They also brought together people with very different roles at Penn (students, staff, and faculty) to talk together as peers.

DEEP Listening

Like many of Paideia’s efforts, the Slow Dialogue Project was intended to highlight the value of listening carefully and open-mindedly to people who are very different from oneself.

Applying the lessons to “real life”

The lessons of the Slow Dialogue Project are especially important at this moment in our society and culture.

In everyday life, it will rarely be possible to replicate the structure and format of our slow dialogues, but participants emerged from their experience convinced that the insights they gained can be applied in many different contexts.