Our Mission

The Conversation Project (TCP) cultivates the capacity for honest, transformative dialogue creating pathways for compassionate conversation and creative problem solving.

Through educational programs, research, and community events, TCP integrates practical skills in listening and facilitation with storytelling and the arts to help communities bridge divides and move from fear to hope, isolation to belonging, and withdrawal to courageous engagement.  

We believe that healthy communities – and a healthy democracy – need public spaces where we share stories and listen to each other. Our communities are held together by three shared ideas: “I see you, I hear you, we need each other.”  TCP creates conditions that allow for vulnerability as a path towards courage, connection, and a recognition of our common humanity.

What our Students are Saying

“I feel as though I can better ground myself and settle myself during difficult conversations and listen for understanding instead of listening to react.”

“Meaningful conversations require intention and a willingness to sit in discomfort. Conversations across differences are not about winning or proving a point, but about understanding and recognizing the humanity in others. The Conversation Project showed me that dialogue can be a powerful tool for healing and change when people feel safe enough to be honest.”

“It's integral to the human spirit that we learn to connect with each other again. If I can create conversations like the ones I was a part of, then I'll know all the struggles will have been worth it. For now, I can be grateful for what I've gotten to be a part of. “

Event Highlights

Our Short Film: "The Stories We Carry: Listening in a Divided World"

To attend the upcoming virtual screening, please see below!

Watch here to view the trailer: The Stories We Carry: Listening in a Divided World.

To receive a free discussion guide or learn more about the film, please visit the film’s website: The Stories We Carry.  

In an age of anonymity, polarization, and isolation, three students – WU ‘26 grads Kaitlin Imai, Kate West, and Sawyer Garrison - set out to test a radical proposition: that democracy itself depends on our willingness to see and hear one another. The Stories We Carry follows their journey from isolation toward connection, as they learn how to hold someone else's story with compassion and develop the courage to share their own. Woven through their individual journeys is a larger argument that healthy democratic communities depend on shared spaces where people can be seen, heard, and known. Against the forces pulling us apart, The Stories We Carry is a film about all of us, our common humanity, and the democratic culture we might build — one story at a time.

Upcoming Virtual Screening

To reserve a free ticket for this screening, or to learn more about the event, please click here.  Following your reservation, you will receive a 48-hour link that will open on November 5th to our 21-minute short film. We encourage you to watch the film before joining us at 6:00pm PT on November 6thor 9:00am PT on November 7th for avirtual Q&Awith our filmmaker, Davey Schaupp, the producers from the TDB Family Foundation, and cast members, Kate West, Kaitlin Imai, David Gutterman, Wendy Petersen-Boring. We look forward to seeing you then!

The First On-Campus Community Screening

We recently hosted the first celebratory screening of our film, The Stories We Carry: Listening in a Divided World at Willamette University. The Stories We Carry explores the founding idea of The Conversation Project: that healthy democratic communities depend on our willingness to witness one another.

The screening took place on Monday, October 26th at 7:00 pm in the Roger Hull Lecture Hallon the 2nd floor of the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, and our filmmaker, Davey Schaupp, will be there, joined us for a Q & A.

What do we Hold? A Gallery Talk and Community Conversation

Front: Roger Shimomura (American, born 1939), American in Disguise, 2012, acrylic on canvas, 24 x 24 in, Maribeth Collins Art Acquisition Fund, 2014.032. Photo: Greg Kucera Gallery.

This exhibition was created in collaboration with the Office of Civic Engagement at Willamette University in recognition of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The project brought together students, faculty, and Salem community members to explore themes in the Declaration and how to talk about our histories, present challenges, and hopes for the future. The exhibition features an array of art pieces that grounded participants' conversations in consideration of the multiple perspectives, themes, and backgrounds that define what it means to be an American. Visit the Hallie Ford Art Museum from July 11th till November 21st, 2026 to join in consideration of our shared American identity at this 250th anniversary.

This October 2026, we joined together for a reception highlighting the exhibition and reflecting on the impact of the community conversations hosted at HFMA last Spring. Two of our wonderful participants (one student, one community partner), shared in moth-style storytelling, that prompted community reflection and discussion. This reception came on the heels of our Summer '26 reception celebrating the opening of the exhibit at Hallie Ford. 

To find more information visit: Willamette Events: What Do We Hold? A Community Conversation

Events Archive

Conversation Ambassador Summer Internship

In the Summer of 2025, three conversation ambassadors interned with A Peace of My Mind, an artistic storytelling project that seeks to spark hope and share stories of humanity through photography and community conversation. Kate West, Kaitlin Imai, and Sawyer Garrison traveled across the United States and Northern Ireland to coordinate, produce, and hold interviews and conversations exploring themes of hope, human connection, and community reflection. 

Read more here:  Sharing Stories of Hope through Art & Storytelling 

A Peace of My Mind

In April 2025, John Nolter from A Peace of My Mind (APOMM),our community partner and friend, spend time in residence here at Willamette University. Over the course of a week, Noltner and TCP student interns hosted conversations, gallery tours, and created a studio series exploring conceptions of belonging. APOMM collected stories and created multimedia arts to showcase how members of the Willamette community define and conceptualize radical belonging. 

Read more about the project here:  Willamette University – A Peace of My Mind &  "A Peace of My Mind" Looks to Build Connections in a Divided World

Northern Ireland Summit

In the Summer of 2024, students and faculty from The Conversation Project traveled to Northern Ireland to participate and hold conversations at Corrymeela, a center that fosters mutual understanding and connection through storytelling, meditation, and mediation practices. During their travels across Northern Ireland, students engaged in conversations with individuals sharing their stories and experiences of living through The Troubles, a time of violent sectarian conflict. Throughout the summit, students and community members learned enriching meditation practices and storytelling skills that settled participants bodies and minds into a space suitable for deeply engaged and connective conversation. 

"When you foreground storytelling and invite people to share their lived experiences, that's more effective than starting with divisive topics.” — Kate West BA'26

Read more about the summit here: Bridging Divides and Healing Divisions Across Difference