Dialogue Nights Lite

Dialogue Nights Lite is an extension of our popular event series, Dialogue Nights. At this event, participants engage in multiple rounds of a paired dialogue format called speed-connecting. In the process, they strengthen their dialogue skills, build meaningful connections, and deepen their understanding of diverse perspectives. 

Please join us for our next Dialogue Nights Lite event on Friday, Nov 14 @ 7pm!

Read write ups about our Dialogue Nights Lite events

Download the Ikeda Center Dialogue Commitments

DOWNLOAD THE IKEDA CENTER GROUND RULES for genuine dialogue 

What Inspired Dialogue Nights Lite?

Our youth community! Many of our Dialogue Nights attendees had been asking us if there was any way we could increase the frequency of Dialogue Nights events. In response to their enthusiasm, and in collaboration with our Ikeda Center Youth Steering Committee (ICYC), we launched Dialogue Nights Lite in July of 2024 as another opportunity for our community to engage with one another. Unlike Dialogue Nights, which focuses on a particular theme, this series provides a reflective and fun space for young people to strengthen their dialogue skills as they respond to get-to-know-you questions and engage more deeply with our Center’s Dialogue Commitments and Ground Rules for Genuine Dialogue. 

What differentiates Dialogue Nights Lite from Dialogue Nights?

In today’s pressure-filled society, our original Dialogue Nights hosts a safe and encouraging space for young adults to connect with one another and exchange their open-hearted and open-minded reflections on how they are navigating their lived realities. For attendees who feel like they could use a little more practice before diving into the deeper, thematic discussions at Dialogue Nights, Dialogue Nights Lite provides the perfect opportunity! 

Over the course of the night, attendees take part in multiple rounds of speed-connecting, a 10-minute paired dialogue over a get-to-know-you question, which is a time dedicated to practicing dialogue of the kind inspired by Center founder Daisaku Ikeda, who valued the quest for mutual understanding. Mr. Ikeda’s values are also reflected in our Ikeda Center Dialogue Commitments and Ground Rules for Genuine Dialogue, which inform every Dialogue Nights Lite discussion. With this experience, participants can understand why Mr. Ikeda called dialogue “the surest path to peace.”

As the title of the series suggests, the goal of Dialogue Nights Lite is to help make the practice of dialogue lighter or, in other words, easier to understand, apply, and enjoy. This is achieved by providing our youth community with additional, tangible experiences of the beautiful power and potential that dialogue has to offer to empower and uplift them.