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Brown announces Discovery Through Dialogue project to facilitate campus conversation

The initiative features speaker events, workshops and a new student funding opportunity.

The snowy Quiet Green looking toward University Hall at sunset.

The project is centered around three areas of engagement: knowledge-building, skill-building and community-building.

President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 announced a new University project to support open conversations on campus in a Thursday Today@Brown post. Called Discovery Through Dialogue, the initiative aims to advance understanding while maintaining an inclusive and respectful community. 

Paxson explained that Discovery Through Dialogue was born out of student, faculty and staff calls for additional avenues for dialogue. 

“At the heart of this project is the recognition that dialogue is the lifeblood of Brown University,” Paxson wrote.

Paxson noted a shift in campus climate when discussing controversial or polarizing topics.

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“It has become increasingly commonplace to isolate ourselves in online echo chambers rather than listen to and learn from each other,” she wrote. 

In the announcement, Paxson emphasized the importance of ensuring that students, faculty and staff feel safe to share their views on complex topics. 

“Many of our greatest advancements are realized through collaboration with others whose knowledge, skills and life experiences are different from our own,” she wrote.

The project is centered around three areas of engagement: knowledge, skill and community building.

The initiative’s website listed upcoming events that “serve as models for respectful dialogue,” including a conversation with Jamil Zaki, professor of psychology at Stanford University, and a Paxson-led discussion with Brown faculty on research, scholarship and the promotion of dialogue across viewpoints.

Discovery Through Dialogue also expands Brown’s Community Dialogue project, a program with training modules and resources focused on facilitating dialogue and navigating disagreement among students. 

The University’s faculty programming at the Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning will also expand under the initiative, aiming to teach faculty members how to facilitate student communication on difficult topics, the announcement reads. For staff, Brown will emphasize dialogue in its professional development programming.

The project also introduces a Student Dialogue Fund to provide financial support for “student-led initiatives on campus that foster constructive dialogue,” the announcement reads. 

Applications for funding will open on UFunds on Feb. 20 and will be reviewed by a panel of undergraduate, graduate and medical student leaders.

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Cate Latimer

Cate Latimer is a university news editor covering faculty, University Hall and higher education. She is from Portland, OR, and studies English and Urban Studies. In her free time, you can find her playing ultimate frisbee or rewatching episodes of Parks and Rec.



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