Why send your faculty to the Faculty Institute?
In these polarized times, educators face the challenge of guiding students through complex and often contentious issues, yet faculty have limited space, support, and resources to engage meaningfully in this work. Higher ed remains siloed, with few opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration. Even at institutions where this training is fundamental, faculty rarely get the chance to dive deeper or may feel hesitant to discuss and practice these skills together.
The Faculty Institute helps interdisciplinary educators nationwide gain the skills and confidence to redesign or create new courses that promote civil discourse and become champions of this work on their campuses.
Benefits
- 2.5-day in-person convening followed by an 18-month virtual community of learning and purpose
- Access to resources, support, and opportunities to hear and work with experts and faculty peers to apply and practice civil discourse
- Unique curriculum co-designed by diverse scholars and practitioners in ethics, religion, communication, law, and history, as well as shaped by participants themselves
- Interdisciplinary approach focused on developing curricula across diverse fields, including humanities, social sciences, STEM, and professional areas
- Professional and intellectual enrichment for committed faculty, supported by ongoing peer collaboration and learning opportunities through Citizens & Scholars
- Participants engage with presidents and provosts to embed the goals of the Institute throughout their campus community.
Ready to learn more? Email faculty@collegepresidents.org
“The break-out sessions gave me the opportunity to drill down to the core of what civil discourse means. I now walk away from this with a better understanding.”
-Faculty Institute Participant
“Honestly, I hate discussing politics and even though it wasn’t the main focus… [this class] made me see different approaches to this kind of hard conversation. When you set group agreements and are intentional, it can be a safer conversation.
-Student, James Madison University after taking a redesigned course from a Faculty Institute Fellow
“This conference proved an incredible learning and networking opportunity. I feel like we learned a lot in a very short period of time, and I’m grateful and excited that future opportunities for connection and collaboration are baked into the program.”
-Faculty Institute participant
I don’t think we could do much of anything without a willingness and an ability to engage with people we disagree with. I tell my students often that it is baked into our system of government. There’s a back and forth, and then out of that comes some sort of compromise or an ability to find common ground and advance those ideas. We can’t have a successful representative democracy if we can’t even talk to each other.
Elizabeth Matto
Director of the Eagleton Institute at Rutgers University and Faculty Institute Participant
Deepen your engagement with faculty, student, and peer learning initiatives.
In addition to General Membership benefits, there are optional fee-based products and services for those who need support in bringing the Civic Commitments to life.
Faculty Institute
Equips faculty to create courses and incorporate free expression and civil discourse in the classroom.
Confidential Forums for Presidents
Openly discuss emerging challenges and engage with each other around urgent topics.
Student Module
Interactive module that ensures students are ready to engage in dialogue across differences in various campus settings.
