Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue on Global Issues

A collaboration between the Georgetown University Laboratory for Global Performance & Politics (the Lab) and the Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue on Global Issues, In Your Shoes™ – A Project in U.S.-China Student Dialogue through Performance is an iteration of the award-winning In Your Shoes Program.

In Your Shoes employs innovative techniques rooted in theatrical performance, dialogue, and deep listening to bring students from diverse social, cultural, and religious backgrounds into substantive, challenging, and respectful dialogue with one another to promote mutual understanding and empathy.

This pilot is rooted in the Lab’s signature In Your Shoes Project (see more from the PBS NewsHour and Washington Post). In this approach, pair conversations between participants, based on a simple prompt, are mutually recorded, curated, transcribed, and then shared with the group in excerpted form through performance. It draws on lessons learned from the success of the spring 2022 pilot that fostered a close community and opened space to discuss Chinese and American cultural convergence.