Katie Sanders led first-year UGA students through an experiential learning opportunity in class where they got to role play by creating a conflict and then solving it using appreciative inquiry techniques. The question was: How can we solve conflict by appreciating what all bring to the conversation? We dressed up, got a little silly and learned a lot from one another.

Appreciative inquiry is the approach taken by Katie and Dr. Lamm when evaluating the CDC-funded Healthier Together program designed to get community coalitions in 5 rural counties engaged in creating healthier communities by improving food access, food policy and physical activity. The projects is a partnership between UGA Extension, College of Agricultural and Environmental Science, College of Public Health, College of Family and Consumer Sciences and College of Environmental Design at UGA.

UGA Students engage in an experiential learning opportunity based on appreciative evaluation approaches to learn about conflict resolution.