Co-facilitators
Intergroup Dialogue (IGD) intentionally brings together co-facilitators of differing racial and /or gender backgrounds to model cross-identity partnerships and dialogic modes of inquiry. In alignment with these goals, in my IGD work, I regularly co-facilitate with the colleagues listed below.
Dr. Charles Behling
is retired after 15 years as Co-Director of The Program on Intergroup Relations at the University of Michigan. During his tenure, the program was cited by President Clinton’s Initiative on Race as one of fourteen “Promising Practices” that successfully bridge racial divides in American communities. In addition, the program received awards from the U.S. Department of Education, the American Association of Higher Education, the American College Personnel Association, the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, and TIAA-CREF.
In retirement, he has consulted with more than 70 universities across the U.S. and Canada regarding the creation of intergroup dialogue programs. Earlier in his career, Dr. Behling was a professor and psychology department chair at Lake Forest College, and then a professor and director of undergraduate studies at the University of Buffalo. He won awards for outstanding teaching from both institutions. Lake Forest College’s award for promotion of cultural diversity is named for him, and he received a University of Buffalo award for services to students from underrepresented social groups.
His Ph.D. and M.A. are from Vanderbilt University. Prior to entering psychology, he worked as a newspaper reporter in South Carolina, and holds an M.A. in journalism from the University of South Carolina. His interests in social justice are shaped by his having grown up in the rural South in the days of Jim Crow, before the Civil Rights Movement.
Dr. Sarah goodwin
Dr. Sarah Webster Goodwin, Professor Emerita of English and former Associate Dean of the Faculty and Acting Dean of the Faculty at Skidmore College, taught in the Intergroup Relations (IGR) Program at Skidmore from its inception in 2008. After attending an IGR training workshop at the University of Michigan, she went on to take part in annual IGR workshops at Skidmore, including those specifically focused on training dialogue facilitators. Over a decade, she taught regularly in the IGR program. Most often, she co-facilitated the dialogue course for advanced students training to facilitate dialogues with peers in the IGR curriculum. She also coached the students as they led the dialogues and participated in the group of faculty and staff who helped to implement the program.
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Goodwin served both as a consultant to other leading liberal arts colleges and as a reviewer in their accreditation processes, and in both those roles she studied other colleges’ diversity and inclusion initiatives and offered feedback. At Skidmore, she co-led a Faculty Interest Group on White Racial Identity. Since retiring, she has co-led an active, cross-racial reading and discussion group on race and racism for her college class (Harvard ’75); she also leads a reading group on race and racism for retired faculty and staff at Skidmore and has led a reading group on race for Skidmore’s Office of Advancement.
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Goodwin holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Brown University and held fellowships to study at the École normal supérieure in Paris and the Albert-Ludwigs University in Freiburg, Germany. She also has had a lifelong interest in racial identities and social justice.
Dr. Susan layden
Susan Layden is the Senior Associate Dean for Student Success at Claremont McKenna College (CMC). At CMC, Sue is responsible for developing evidence-based programs supporting students’ success and inclusive well-being. Sue is involved in CMC’s Presidential Initiative on Antiracism and the Black Experience in America, leading IGD trainings, research and analysis, and staff dialogues in support of antiracist work. She is working to create an antiracist framework to use for assessing programs and policies. Sue is also actively involved in assessment related to accreditation, including research design and implementation, analysis, and writing.
Prior to coming to CMC, Sue was the Research Analyst for Enrollment, Retention and Student Achievement at Skidmore College. She also served as the Associate Dean of Student Affairs, with responsibility for Student Academic Services (SAS) and the Opportunity Program (OP) for nearly 15 years. Under her guidance, the OP received national recognition for its success in the access, high academic achievement, and sense of belonging for underserved students. Sue was a member of the leadership group responsible for creating the Intergroup Relations (IGR) minor at Skidmore, and trains faculty, staff and students at U.S. colleges and universities in IGD pedagogy. Sue served on the national steering board for the Consortium for High Achievement and Success (CHAS) from 2015-2022, and assists the Lenfest Scholars Foundation.
Sue’s Ph.D. is in literacy education/anthropology. She taught in Skidmore’s First-Year Experience, IGR, Sociology, Anthropology, and Education Studies, and in the graduate Literacy masters and doctorate programs at the University at Albany. Sue’s passion is social justice and access work, and her focus is increasingly centered on the relationships across belonging, success, and inclusive well-being.
