Welcome! The UIC First-year Dialogue Seminar (FYDS; DLG 120) is a course designed to facilitate students’ transitions to university life and UIC’s uniquely diverse campus. DLG 120 is primarily for UIC first-year students, and students from all colleges and degree programs are welcome to enroll. Every year, more than 400 students from UIC’s undergraduate programs enroll in the FYDS. Students from the College of Education’s BA in Human Development & Learning, and students enrolled in undergraduate degree programs in the College of Architecture, Design, & the Arts are required to enroll in the FYDS, representing about one half of total enrollment. Since 2016, more than 3,000 students have enrolled in the FYDS.

DLG 120 uses students’ experiences and dialogic communication as sources of learning and connection. The course relies on small groups to learn about and practice dialogue. Each section is capped at 18 students and two instructors, allowing for more meaningful engagement across similarities and differences. 4 cycles of DLG 120 are offered each academic year: Fall Term A (August-October), Fall Term B (October-December); Spring Term A (January-March), Spring Term B (March-May. Typically 25-30 sections are offered each academic year.

Below is a short video describing Intergroup Dialogue and the DLG120 course (5:58). Click here for some common questions about Dialogue Courses, and here to learn more about teaching in the UIC First-Year Dialogue Seminar (DLG 120). For more information on Dialogue (DLG) courses, contact Steve Whitley or Jess Joslin.

First-Year Dialogue Seminar (DLG 120): 1 credit
Daley Library

Since 2012, this eight-week course has been offered to incoming first-year students in various colleges. It utilizes the IGD four-stage model and offers introductory content on social identity, privilege, discrimination, and communication across difference while introducing students to the diverse UIC campus.

Intergroup Dialogue (DLG 220): 3 credits

Designed to promote students’ exploration of social identity group membership, conflict, collaboration, and social justice through Dialogue. Each dialogue involves groups with a history of social conflict. Individual and Society course, and US Society course.

Critical Dialogue for Health Professional Student Development (PSOP 387)
College of Pharmacy: 2 credits

The Critical Dialogue course is a semi-structured, face-to-face format in which students of diverse backgrounds and identities come together to examine issues that cut across many aspects of their lives and invariably how these experiences impact on healthcare and disparities. Specifically, the goal of PSOP 387 is to facilitate an understanding between social/cultural groups to better address the needs of a diverse patient population. As future healthcare professionals, this understanding becomes even more important to ensure more effective patient care. In this class, student experiences are explored based on the intersection of race, gender, and social class and how they shape personal identity.