In fall 2021, at the beginning of my Master’s program at Harvard Graduate School of Education, a few classmates and I got together to create a student organization called Throughline. Its goal was to be a space where people could practice effective communication strategies and have more conversations with “the opposition”.
The conversations I had during Throughline events and in planning with my teammates were absolutely enlightening, and I hope to bring another iteration of this project wherever I go next!
Overview
At the very beginning of the fall semester at Harvard Graduate School of Education, classmate Tahmid Islam and I discussed creating a student organization. It took many different forms at first, but after some refining and feedback from our peers, we finally came up with Throughline. Its tagline: “Understanding Across Differences”.
Throughout its course, we held three conferences on effective communication strategies, the art of negotiation, and the power of disengaging opposition, among other topics. It came at a time when America was transitioning from a Trump to a Biden presidency, and students expressed a need to genuinely understand those who held different political, ideological, and philosophical views from their own.
The Situation: How can we have more effective conversations with our peers?
Duration of project: 4 months
Audience: Harvard Graduate School of Education students, Harvard University students
Format: In-person & hybrid workshops
My Role: I was a co-founder of the group, and the executive team was made up of 9 people with roles such as Advertising, Program Planning, and Outreach.
Skills Demonstrated: Instructional Design (Higher Ed), Project Management, Event Coordination
Technologies Used: Canva, Google Slides, Google Forms, Microsoft Powerpoint
Final Results
What do you (really) mean? – Throughline by Nia Hamilton
Pictured: The Throughline Team!
(from left to right): Natalie Sew, Tahmid Islam, Mike Thomson, Nia Hamilton (me!), Kate Peksa, Chan Pham, Sarah Keiko