Staff and students affiliated with the Center for Constructive Communication discuss data visualization tools used to distill narratives from a student assembly in January 2025.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF CCC“They all give such unique answers and different perspectives,” says Caleb Mathewos ’27, who as an orientation leader this past August facilitated a conversation with incoming first-year students from across the country as part of a project called realtalk@MIT.
“I remember thinking, ‘Wow, the incoming class is so diverse,’” says Mathewos, a computer science and engineering major from Dallas who is membership director at radio station WMBR. “It was interesting to see how different the people were across this random group of nine kids I got to talk to.”
A flagship project of the MIT Center for Constructive Communication (CCC), realtalk@MIT brings members of the MIT community together in guided, small-group conversations aimed at building trust and connections among classmates and colleagues.
In addition to organizing dozens of conversations with incoming first-year students during Orientation Week, realtalk@MIT this academic year convened an undergraduate student assembly on sustainability during Independent Activities Period (IAP); launched DisCourse, a curated dinner experience that transforms the act of dining into an immersive exploration of how we connect through conversation; and partnered with the Division of Student Life on conversations across seven dorms to gauge how students experience residence hall culture.
The larger aim of CCC is to promote healthier public dialogue and amplify a wider range of voices during an age of sharp, partisan divides fed by conflict-driven social media.
Mathewos, who serves on CCC’s student advisory board, facilitated conversations during Orientation Week, asking incoming first-years what excited—and worried—them about MIT.
A common theme emerges in conversations with MIT students, Mathewos says. “Whenever you ask, ‘What makes MIT MIT for you?’ The answer is almost always ‘the people,’ ‘the community that I’ve found,’ ‘the friends that I’ve made.’”
The realtalk@MIT team says the project aims to build an “MIT culture of listening and shared understanding.” Their motto: “Hear—and be heard.”
Participants consent to having their conversations recorded and shared. AI tools surface patterns and themes across the stories that are shared, while audio medleys, data visualizations, and other outputs help to amplify participants’ voices. In addition to building connections among community members, realtalk aims to provide MIT leadership with a constellation of varied MIT voices that may otherwise not be heard.
“We need to do a better job of listening to each other,” says Deb Roy SM ’95, PhD ’99, professor of media arts and sciences and CCC’s director, who says realtalk was launched with the support of President Sally Kornbluth and Provost Cynthia Barnhart SM ’86, PhD ’88.
“There is a way to harness the power of AI to bring people together rather than drive them apart, and CCC is spearheading that work,” Roy says. “The need for better ways to hear and be heard is more important than ever.”
Dimitra Dimitrakopoulou, the center’s head of translational research and practice, recalls asking CCC’s seven student advisors what social skills are missing at MIT.
“They mentioned valuing emotions, listening, putting themselves in others’ shoes, and humility,” she said. “How can we be more humble, not talk about intellectual stuff for a minute, and just enjoy the presence of others? We asked, ‘Well, why are those missing skills important?’ Among the answers they gave were that being negative does not make things better, and that we need to make sure others feel as if their emotions are valid and their perspective is being heard.”
Dimitrakopoulou says, “At CCC, we argue that hearing humanity in others is essential for democracy to function. Our work is helping make our civic muscles stronger, reminding ourselves of the joy of being in conversation with each other, and the importance of focusing on personal stories rather than fighting over who’s right or wrong. These days, finding opportunities for these connections is more important than ever.”
Jessie Lin ’28, a bioengineering and finance double major from Rancho Cucamonga, California, is a student advisor to CCC. She was among the 19 undergraduates who took part in the two-week IAP student assembly that focused on topics such as climate justice, MIT’s sustainability initiatives, and recommendations for improvements like adding more compost bins and recycling signage in dining halls.
“We do have a voice in our community,” she says. “If these conversations have taught me anything, it would be that learning more about the community that we live in and being willing to contribute that voice really does matter. The best thing about being on a campus like MIT’s is being able to speak with very, very smart people who are very knowledgeable in many different disciplines. Having these conversations means we’ll always be able to learn, even when we’re not in class.”