Community Voices Podcast: Cynthia Farrar

Cynthia Farrar from Yale University speaks with JR Logan from United Way about her aspirations to have people connect across their differences. 

--Transcript dated November 3, 2010--

JR- Hello and welcome to another Community Voices Podcast

(Music)

JR- Would you like to introduce yourself?

Cynthia Farrar- I'm Cynthia Farrar and I work at Yale University’s Institution for Social and Policy Studies and I'm also an active civic volunteer particularly in the area of community engagement. How do you get ordinary people more involved in determining what happens in the community and I'm a volunteer for United Way... I'm on the Community Impact Cabinet.

JR- Can you speak a little better about your aspirations for the community both from your personal perspective and from the various roles you just described?

Cynthia Farrar- One thing that strikes me about New Haven, although it’s not unique to New Naven by any means, is that it's quite hard for people to connect to each other across their differences. There are very few opportunities, and I would argue not as many as some people think even on the internet, for ordinary people to have a chance to consider their own aspirations and own concerns with their neighbors and with people who are not their neighbors, people from their towns, people from other backgrounds and think together about what matters to all of us.

JR- Is there anything that gives you hope in that area, things you’ve seen in other communities, or even here that you would hope to be replicated?

Cynthia Farrar- well here in New Haven we've actually been working pretty hard to try to offer opportunities to people to have that kind of connection across difference and I’ve been involved in running a number of citizen’s forms that the United Way has supported, among others, where you get ordinary people to think about the issues that affect them and the company of people who don’t agree.

JR- Is there one thing you suggest that the person listening to this should do either to learn about the activities you're talking about or to get involved? What’s the first step that somebody who is not professionally involved could take?

Cynthia Farrar- Well I think a good first step would be to contact the United Way which has a real commitment to civic engagement and ask to be included in opportunities like that.

JR- Essentially, raise their hand and start small and build from there?

Cynthia Farrar- Yes. There are also things that individuals can do without any organization which is to find natural occasions where they can get involved in conversations that may be uncomfortable at first, so a sports organization which is bound to include people who don’t agree on particular issues, and start asking questions.