News HGSE Hosts “Can We Talk?” Event With Penn Badgley and Nura Mowzoon The dialogue starts a semester-long Sonder Project at the Ed School to build community and support conversation across differences Posted January 27, 2025 By Ryan Nagelhout Counseling and Mental Health Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Nura Mowzoon and Penn Badgley in Askwith Hall on January 24, 2025 Photo: Jill Anderson The Harvard Graduate School of Education embarked on a semester-long initiative to build community and support dialogue across differences by bringing the Can We Talk? discourse series to Askwith Hall on Friday.The series, created by actor Penn Badgley and Nura Mowzoon, is designed to foster meaningful conversations and explore how interpersonal dialogue can create change. Inviting audience participation and openness, the series asks those in attendance to consider how deeper dialogue could change their communities for the better.Can We Talk?, which began in 2020, actually started as a conversation between the two hosts. Mowzoon, an instructor at Arizona State University whose work focuses on relationships, initially invited Badgley to speak in one of her classes following the success of his Netflix show, You. The two formed a partnership and designed the discourse series’ format, though holding events at college campuses was briefly put on pause during the COVID-19 pandemic.“In our conversations we realized the same principles that make romantic relationships work are the same principles which are necessary for any kind of interpersonal relationship to work. Being able to have hard conversations, being able to grow, being willing to be uncomfortable.” said Mowzoon. “We wanted to kind of stretch it out into a conversation about meaningful dialogue during such charged times.”The event began with a brief introduction from Senior Lecturer Gretchen Brion-Meisels, who worked with Badgley and Mowzoon to bring the program to campus.“They believe that meaningful conversations are foundational to social change,” says Brion-Meisels, noting she shares this belief in her own work at the Ed School. “Whether we’re working to support transformation in individual young folks, or adults among groups of students, or within organizations or larger socio-political systems, we understand that dialogue is critical to fostering individual and collective growth.” Photo Credit: Jill Anderson Badgley and Mowzoon then provided a framework for students to engage with one another in an effort to find points of unity, challenge assumptions, and build bridges across divides. The free-flowing discussion centered on two large questions posted by Badgley and Mowzoon: can people change, and what do you risk losing if you humanize the enemy?“We really want to have a dialogue today,” said Badgley, framing the conversation at the event’s onset. “We want you to feel safe.”The event was the first of HGSE’s Sonder Project, a series of events and workshops which will take place throughout the spring semester. The Sonder Project, sponsored by the Ed. School's Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, is designed to help the HGSE community develop a common language, internal tools, and frameworks for practicing pluralism and engaging in constructive conflict.“As a school, we have a unique opportunity as educators to develop and equip individuals with the skills to listen to each other's stories and recognize our shared human experience by fostering interpersonal dialogue and communication across differences,” said Jarrod Chin, Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer for HGSE. “By drawing on the expertise of faculty and student leaders, our office will offer carefully designed micro-learnings for self-reflection, one-on-one conversations, small group dialogues, storytelling, and large group discussions.”Badgley and Mowzoon encouraged those in attendance to take part in other Sonder Project activities – such as somatic practices, generative conflict skills workshops, and narrative storytelling sessions – and reflect on their own journeys when the two return for an event in May. News The latest research, perspectives, and highlights from the Harvard Graduate School of Education Explore All Articles Related Articles Education Now The Healing Power of Friendships and Relationships A discussion on how schools can help every student to feel that they belong — by encouraging friendships and supportive relationships. Education Now Why Teachers Leave Teaching — and How to Support and Retain Them Exploring the current and historical strains on teachers, the effects of the pandemic, and how to address and fix the underlying causes. Education Now Mental Health and Wellness at College Today A discussion on higher education and the mental health and wellness challenges that colleges are facing — and what student support should look like now, as pandemic impacts continue.