Listen to the interview with Dr. Ian Borton
Dr. Ian Borton, Communications Professor at Aquinas College, has embedded the Generation Swap project into his Interpersonal Communications class for students interested in intergenerational relationships. Listen to him discuss his thoughts on the benefits of the Swapmate relationships, the ‘gamification’ of his syllabus, his recent travels in Greece, and a Dungeons and Dragons summer camp he created.
Dr. Borton has decades of experience as a conflict mediator, working for the Transforming Conflicted Communities Project, The Dispute Resolution Center of West Michigan, Kent County small claims courts, and other venues. His most recent book is “Creating Restorative Justice” (Lexington Press). His research has also been published in Conflict Resolution Quarterly, The International Journal of Conflict Management, and Negotiation and Conflict Management Research. In recent years his research focus has moved from interpersonal conflict to games and gamification. He currently runs the blog “Dungeon Theory” in which he writes about the connections between social scientific theories and D&D.
As part of an Aquinas College class on preparing for life after college, students were paired with mentors from the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) across the street from the College. The course capstone project was a Generation Swap podcast interview exploring how generational differences can be a source of strength and growth.