Moments of Connection: Cultivating Empathy Between Parties in Conflict Using Role Play

Empathy is central to many conflict resolution processes, but the concept has not been adequately described in the field. This dissertation investigates processes of cultivating empathy by examining structured classroom role-play activities which have been found to increase participants' empathy. The qualitative study focuses on undergraduate students' participation in role-plays about conflicts related to the practice of mountaintop mining in Appalachian communities. Components of the role-plays that cultivated empathy were discovered through interviews with students, observations during role-plays, review of audio and video recordings of the role-plays, students' reflection papers, and pre and post testing.