The Communication CoLaboratory
Building Healthy Community through Skillful Communication
Being misunderstood is a universal human experience. However, miscommunications are oftentimes invisible- especially to people in positions of power. This reality can result in a variety of misunderstandings, from small confusions to increased conflict and decreased morale within a community.
These experience-based development opportunities empower participants to diagnose and respond to miscommunications in their professional and learning communities. Through intentional experimentation in gameplay simulations and a focus on pragmatics, an area of linguistics that examines how meaning is made in context, participants will gain understanding of the infinite ways in which individuals from distinct ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic backgrounds communicate. At the end of this exploration, they will develop strategies and key takeaways to improve their own communication on their teams.
The CASLS team is able to facilitate team experiences ranging from one-hour interactions to three-day workshops. These offerings are explained below:
One-Hour or Two-Hour Experience
Enhance your ability to communicate clearly and strategically across cultures and contexts by playing Escape from Byru’Moxia, and interactive gameplay simulation in which participants engage in critical thinking and learning to overcome common communication barriers. This offering is appropriate for secondary learners, post-secondary learners, professional teams, and community organizations.
Pricing:
| Corporate | Non-Profit | ||
| Groups of up to 10 | $250/person | Groups of up to 10 | $30/person |
| Groups 11-50 | $220/person | Groups of 11-50 | $27/person |
| Groups 51-200 | $175/person | Groups of 51-200 | $22.50/person |
Day(s)-Long Experience
Centered on the tenets of intercultural communicative competence, participants will develop culturally relevant and sustaining professional practices that celebrate the diverse communicative repertoires of learners from all socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. This action learning and game-based offering can be adapted to professionals working in a variety of contexts, and participants can choose one-day, two-day, or three-day options.
A special two-an-a-half-day session will be held for educators in Summer 2025. This session will delve specifically into culturally sustaining instructional and assessment practices.
Pricing:
Summer Session for Educators: $150
Non-Profit Rate for On-Site Training: $1500 per day plus travel
Corporate Rate for On-Site Training: $4500 per day plus travel