Through a range of initiatives, our community builds knowledge, develops skills and fosters community to help cultivate strong environments for learning. These activities aim to support the various contributions students, faculty and staff make to Brown’s teaching and learning community.
Discovery Through Dialogue
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Knowledge-Building
Lectures and Panels
For Faculty, For Staff, For Students
Through various on-campus lectures, panels, forums, and discussion series hosted by academic and administrative units, Brown's students and community members regularly hear from and engage with distinguished speakers from a range of disciplines as they exercise the academic freedom, intellectual curiosity and open inquiry that are core to fulfilling Brown's academic mission. By allowing for the productive exchange of ideas across a wide diversity of thought and experiences, these opportunities serve as models for respectful dialogue, positioning Brown's community members to lead with distinction as they make an impact locally and around the world.
Skill-Building
Community Dialogue Project
For Faculty, For Staff, For Students
Through Brown’s Community Dialogue Project (CDP), students build skills, confidence and strategies to engage productively in open inquiry and respectful dialogue. CDP training modules and resources include training and skill-building related to dialogue, facilitation, and navigating disagreement. Through CDP, students and community members engage with the diversity of thoughts and experiences within and beyond the Brown community, building relationships across backgrounds, beliefs and viewpoints. Via Discovery Through Dialogue, Brown has expanded and scaled the CDP allowing for greater participation and engagement.
Sheridan Center Programming
For Faculty
Through the Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning, faculty learn how to support students in developing the skill of communicating across differences in a range of disciplines. With the support of the Discovery Through Dialogue project, programming and workshops have been expanded to support even more faculty through object-based teaching, building on the center’s existing support for inclusive teaching strategies.
Dialogue-Focused Professional Development and Resources
For Staff
Through dialogue-focused professional development programming and other resources, staff hone skills that promote dialogue across differences, conflict resolution and perspective-taking. These programs and resources have been developed in partnership with the President’s Staff Advisory Council and University Human Resources. Dialogue-focused programming will be included at Staff Development Day in June 2025.
Community-Building
Student Dialogue Fund
For Students
Through the Student Dialogue Fund, students may apply for financial support for student-led initiatives on campus that foster constructive dialogue across differences. Examples of initiatives that may receive funding include hosting speakers aligned with Brown’s commitment to open inquiry and treating each other with dignity and respect, organizing events to engage students in the application of constructive dialogue skills, launching civic engagement projects, and more. A panel of undergraduate, graduate and medical student leaders will review proposals. The application can be found on UFunds.
Join the Discussion
Please use this form to share any ideas or opportunities to amplify Discover Through Dialogue at Brown.