step toward violence prevention: "Non-Violent Communication" as part of a college curriculum

Structural hierarchies are deeply embedded in institutions such as our educational system. It can be argued that this type of model reinforces an aggressive worldview and fosters an atmosphere of violence. Teaching students to communicate compassionately should promote empathy, discourage verbal aggression and reinforce a more peaceful worldview. To accomplish this, educators need a means of replacing hegemony that assumes hierarchy and aggressive conflict are inevitable. Marshall Rosenberg's (2001) Nonviolent Communication (NVC) may provide educators with an appropriate tool. Rosenberg's model counters the prevailing hegemony making it an ideal candidate to explore in relation to these issues. This paper examines the impact of adding an NVC workshop to two types of communication courses and whether Rosenberg's model would be a useful addition to a college curriculum.