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About Study Circles

What they are and why you should participate

• The focus will be on challenges that Morristown faces such as immigration, race, jobs, schools and language differences.
• The program is called "Morristown Matters - Discussing Challenges of a Diverse Community".
• Six Study Circles, each with eight to twelve people, will meet once a week for five weeks.
• The groups will be bring together people of diverse races, ethnicities, religions, sex, ages and socio-economic backgrounds.
• Trained, impartial facilitators will manage the discussions, employing an easy-to-use discussion guide.
• Morristown Matters will not advocate particular solutions. Differing points of view will be encouraged.
• Objective: open lines of communications between Morris County residents of diverse backgrounds.
• Goals:
  1. share knowledge, resources, power and decision making
  2. combine dialogue and deliberation by holding public conversations that build understanding and explore a range of solutions
  3. connect deliberative dialogue to social, political and policy change
     
• Action Plan:
  1. organize and plan further sessions
  2. participate in a community-wide action forum to develop the ideas and projects proposed by the Study Circles
     

Study Circles Resource Center, a project of the Paul J Aicher Foundation, a national non-partisan, nonprofit organization, has assisted 400 communities in 43 states to bring people together to discuss local and regional issues and work toward solutions on issues ranging from race and racism to growth and sprawl to civil liberties and facing the future after 9/11. Our program facilitators have been trained in these concepts. E-mail the Morristown Matters coordinator for more information.