On Dialogue
Dear Johns Hopkins Community:
At their heart, universities are seedbeds of pluralism. Our mission is rooted in openness to difference and intellectual exploration, and these values are etched into our norms of academic freedom and tenure. We bring people into contact with others from a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives. We are relied upon to nurture in our community the skills and habits of dialogue across difference.
Developing this capacity to speak to one another has never been more vital. And our faculty, students, and staff have been coming together over the past year to do precisely that.
This year’s Democracy Day featured an interactive faculty-led session for the entire incoming class on how to develop the skills of civic dialogue. Through the Hop Talks program sponsored by Student Affairs, our community has engaged in small group discussions, led by our faculty and external experts, on challenging topics. Our Office of Diversity and Inclusion has hosted Longest Table dinners, bringing together people from different backgrounds for meaningful conversations over shared meals. The SNF Agora Institute and the Center for Teaching Excellence and Innovation have offered workshops on how to facilitate dialogue on difficult topics in the classroom and on campus.
Today, we are delighted to unveil an additional suite of new initiatives to build our ability to listen and learn from each other.
- Open to Debate. This month, we are celebrating the one-year anniversary of the Hopkins Bloomberg Center in Washington, D.C., a building whose very aim is to contribute to dialogue over national and global policy in new and meaningful ways. To coincide with this anniversary, we are excited to announce that Open to Debate, thenation’s only nonpartisan, debate-driven media organization dedicated to bringing multiple viewpointstogether for a constructive exchange of ideas, will be holding its marquee debates at the Hopkins Bloomberg Center and the Homewood campus, creating an extraordinary platform for substantive exchange on contested issues.
- Dialogue Innovation Grants. We are introducing today a grant fund for faculty to develop innovative methods of incorporating dialogue into the classroom or campus life—for example, through the co-teaching of courses by those with different perspectives, or programs that bring people together across racial and ethnic, religious, or ideological lines in conversation about their lives, perspectives, and experiences. More details on this opportunity can be found on the Office of the Provost website.
- Alexander Grass Humanities Institute. Over the past year, our faculty have taught courses and hosted conversations to shine light on the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East—a critical example of the academy’s role in inviting into conversation a broad range of perspectives on the political, historical, and cultural contexts of the conflicts. Building on this work, the Alexander Grass Humanities Institute is launching a new series that taps expertise from across the university to create a learning platform for ongoing conversations. This series, which began earlier this week, will offer an opportunity for individuals of all viewpoints, opinions, and beliefs to hear from a variety of experts, exchange views, and ask questions.
- Residential Programming. Building on topics introduced at Democracy Day and the student organization leadership conference earlier this year, Student Affairs—in cooperation with the SNF Agora Institute—this spring will be launching residence hall programming on topics such as misinformation and disinformation, dialogue skills, and social media literacy.
Additional opportunities and enhanced programming for students will be unveiled throughout the course of the academic year.
You can learn more at expression.jhu.edu. This new website will put in one place resources about how expression is related to our mission and to our community, your rights and responsibilities on our campuses, and the range of opportunities for you to explore and participate in dialogue across the university.
Our ability to open ourselves to the ideas and perspectives of others illuminates—and brings humanity and meaning to—the education and research that are at the core of our mission. However, that ability cannot be assumed. Rather, it is a capacity that must be developed, in our academic community and the broader society. Through these programs and others, our institution—all of us—can lead the way.
Sincerely,
Ron Daniels
President
Ray Jayawardhana
Provost
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