Related Issue
April–May 2025
University News
Discovery Through Dialogue
A letter from the President
By Christina Paxson / April–May 2025
April 11th, 2025
Dialogue is the lifeblood of Brown University. Through open dialogue and the rigorous shaping and reshaping of ideas, we advance the knowledge and understanding that is critical to academic excellence.
In furtherance of these values, this spring we launched a new community-wide project, Discovery Through Dialogue, to highlight and expand the University’s long-standing ethos of open inquiry through dialogue. Advancing dialogue is also essential to Brown remaining an open, inclusive, and respectful community where students, faculty, and staff feel safe and supported to share their views on challenging topics and complex issues.
Discovery Through Dialogue was born in direct response to the calls of faculty, staff, and students across every facet of our community who asked for more opportunities to practice and observe open dialogue across diverse viewpoints and to cultivate important related skills, such as listening and
conflict resolution.
Ensuring that Brown continues to unlock knowledge and understanding through productive and respectful dialogue is a shared project of our campus community. The project features three pathways for engagement: knowledge-building, skill-building, and community-building.
Brown students, faculty, and staff now have increased opportunities to participate in conversations that strengthen productive dialogue on campus; to access resources that aid in developing the skills needed for productive exchanges; and to build the trust and understanding that unlocks learning, creativity, and intellectual inspiration. For example, the Community
Dialogue Project—which helps students build skills, confidence, and strategies to engage productively in open inquiry and respectful dialogue—has been expanded and scaled to allow for greater participation and engagement.
Open inquiry and respectful discourse have been hallmark elements of Brown’s commitment to unlocking knowledge.
In recent years, we have seen a marked shift across our nation, including on our campus, in the way individuals engage around contentious and polarizing issues, especially with those whose views differ from their own. It has become increasingly commonplace to isolate ourselves in online echo chambers rather than listen to and learn from each other. The Discovery Through Dialogue project encourages an alternative by amplifying and fostering new opportunities for meaningful conversations across a wide range of perspectives.
While Discovery Through Dialogue presents new opportunities for our community, it is grounded in the University’s long-standing commitments to academic freedom and intellectual curiosity, and it supports the academic exploration that has taken place across our campus for decades. Since the University’s founding more than 250 years ago, open inquiry and respectful discourse have been hallmark elements of Brown’s commitment to unlocking knowledge and understanding.
While some of the work that takes place at a university is solitary, many of our greatest advancements are realized through collaboration with others whose knowledge, skills, and life experiences are different from our own. Society’s greatest challenges—climate change, inequality, cybersecurity, and so many more—demand the concerted efforts of people from a wide range of areas of inquiry who bring unique perspectives and areas of expertise to bear on these complex challenges.
Through cultivating meaningful conversations among and between students, faculty, and staff across a variety of viewpoints, we will continue to advance Brown’s mission to discover and preserve knowledge and understanding.
I encourage you to visit the new Discovery Through Dialogue website at discovery-dialogue.brown.edu to learn more and view the recordings of some of our signature events. I look forward to advancing Brown’s commitment to open inquiry together through this community project.
