Hiram College is pleased to announce this year’s Howard Seymour Bissell and Robert Kenyon Bissell Symposium, “Creating Resilience: In (and through) Community” taking place over two days, Tuesday, May 6 from 5 – 6:30 p.m. and Wednesday, May 7 from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. on Hiram’s campus in the Kennedy Center. We live in tumultuous times. More resilient communities are a key to greater stability, well-being, and fun.
Regrowing a Living Culture: Keynote by Dougald Hine
Tuesday, May 6 | 5 – 6:30 p.m. | Kennedy Center
Dougald Hine is the author of At Work in the Ruins (2023), co-founder of a school called HOME and The Dark Mountain Project, and the primary host of The Long Table, a lively international community. He publishes “Writing Home” on Substack and lives with his family in an old shoe shop that now serves as a school and community hub in the small Swedish town of Östervåla.
Dougald’s keynote talk will be followed by a screening of “Common Ground” from 7 – 9 p.m.
Build Community Resilience: From Vision to Action
Wednesday, May 7 | 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. | Kennedy Center
Workshop facilitated by Professor Sarah Mabey: teacher, scientist, collaborative decision guide, conflict manager.
This workshop will give you tools to cultivate collaboration, diffuse conflict, and turn your vision into a plan of action. You’ll take away decision frameworks you can use to:
Uncover shared and divergent values within your team and community
Clarify benefits and trade-offs of change
Align goals, challenges, and opportunities with community values
Establish criteria for evaluating and prioritizing many good ideas
Develop transparent processes for selecting and implementing change-making projects
Create momentum for building a resilient community where you are
The workshop includes lunch. To register to attend the 2025 Bissell Symposium workshop on May 7, please register at this link https://hiram.wufoo.com/forms/bissell-symposium-workshop-registration/
Both events are free and open to the campus community, alumni, and the public.
