Ep. 2: The Intergenerational Dialogue Project
What is the Intergenerational Dialogue Project?
"And so we just decided to start an experiment. [...] These generations never interact. What would happen if we get them together, feed them, water them, and get out of the way? And that was pretty much the plan. And it was pretty awesome." -Karen Morris
Starting in the summer of 2019, the Intergenerational Dialogue Project (IDP) began as a collection of oral history interviews by Karen Morris, a cultural anthropologist and professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). Together with Todd Williams, Center on Halsted Manager of Senior Services, and Adam Greteman, author and professor at SAIC, they dreamed up a project that brought together education, oral histories, and partnerships with LGBTQ+ elders.
From their website: "The project sought to to support the needs and interests of LGBTQ+ young people and LGBTQ+ seniors. We wanted to respond to a simple question: what might we learn about our own experiences through deep conversations with those younger or older than us? Specifically, what might we learn about what it means to be a part of the LGBTQ+ community in the past, present, and future?"
The IDP provides space for LGBTQ+ elders / "olders" and students / "youngers" to connect, often involving food, to foster conversation and relationships, celebrating their differences as well as shared similar experiences. The project brings olders and youngers together to create art as part of annual cohorts though SAIC.
The facilitating team overseeing the project has continued to grow since its inception: in 2020, new faculty member Nic Weststrate from the University of Illinois Chicago joined the project, bringing additional experience with psychology and gerontology. In the fall of 2022, Lisa Moore, a social worker and cultural anthropologist at the Crown School of Social Work Policy, and Practice at the University of Chicago, joined the team as a co-facilitator. The IDP is further supported by graduate and undergraduate student assistants and curators.
The Importance of Dialogue and Intergenerational Connection
"...To survive, to thrive, even amidst difficult conditions, we have to think with
and along one another in all of those complexities. That sounds really complicated, and it can be very complicated, but it's also very simple. It's sitting down over a shared meal over and over again to allow ourselves and our fullness and our complexities to become visible, to become audible, to be felt." - Adam Greteman
Each IDP cohort begins in the fall. Students spend time in seminars learning about LGBTQ+ history and events, and then have the opportunity to speak with queer olders about their lived experiences with each topic. Every cohort brings a new set of students as well as partnering olders from the Center on Halsted, although some folks still continue to help and participate in the project after their year-long commitment ends.
The Dialogues
"I think one of the important things about this project for older folks is we begin to
have physical and sometimes intellectual challenges that we never had before.
And this allows you to feel affirmed and useful. and to be in community with
young people is its own special thing." - Phyllis Johnson
When the dialogues happen, they are over shared meals at a communal dining table. This is an informal, friendly experience meant to encourage bonding and open discussion, as well as ensure that everyone is fed.
Art-making is another way that dialogue and connection happens, creating a collaborative pursuit that the olders and youngers build. Together, students and their older partners make artwork that helps them process the materials they've learned through their coursework as well as from conversations. The art is multimedia, coming in a variety of shapes and sizes.
The dialogues aren't always easy. Several times, generational differences between the olders and the youngers have caused tension. One example is the use of the word "queer," which while reclaimed and popular as a descriptor for the LGBT+ community at large, was a slur for several olders in their youth. There are also several conversations around newer understandings of gender identity, like gender non-conforming or nonbinary identities. The facilitators of the project take care to guide participants through these conversations, encouraging them to acknowledge the feelings of discomfort and talk them through with their peers in the cohort.
In 2023, the IDP held their first public exhibition titled Iridescent Footprints: Stories and Glories of our Lives. The exhibit was held at the Center on Halsted and welcomed over 200 people to the opening night. Several of the works from this exhibition were donated to the Gerber/Hart Library and Archives to be preserved and made accessible.
Partnerships with the Intergenerational Dialogue Project
Gerber/Hart Library and Archives
In Fall 2022, Gerber/Hart welcomed the 2022-2023 cohort to our space for students to look through our collections for the first time. Staff pulled dozens of boxes of papers, periodicals, posters, comics and zines, ephemera, and resources from our library related to topics that had come up in the course. After the 2023 Iridescent Footprints exhibition, we were honored to accept materials from the IDP to add to our collections. Graduate and undergraduate assistants with the IDP helped to organize and describe the materials. The Intergenerational Dialogue Project Collection is now a growing and colorful addition to our archives, featuring unique works of art and organizational papers connected to the fall and spring classes.
We also partnered with the IDP at two separate Benefits raising funds to support the library and archives. Participants of the project spoke at our 2024 Spring Benefit. Our 2025 Fall Benefit featured several participants from the 2024-2025 cohort - folks who were interviewed for this very episode of Unboxing Queer History! We played this episode live for event attendees, giving them a sneak preview before the episode launched on October 7th 2025.
Queer Elder Panel at Dorothy Downstairs
Beginning in June 2023, the IDP held its inaugural Queer Elder Panel at Dorothy Downstairs, a lesbian and queer femme space in the Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago. Several olders from the 2022-2023 cohort gave brief presentations about their personal stories, answering questions from a rapt audience. The event was in partnership with Gerber/Hart: we set out several materials from our archives and library on a table for attendees to engage with. We also filmed the event for our archives. You can learn more about this incredible event and partnership between our three organizations on the online exhibit page for Ep. 1: Lost and Found: Lesbian Bars and the Music Box Lounge.
Since 2023, this has become an annual event and collaboration between IDP, Dorothy, and Gerber/Hart. Every time the event sells out.
To learn more about the Intergenerational Dialogue Project, check out their website: https://generationliberation.com/.
