Oct. 30, 2024
Dear Bruin Community:
We are writing to share that the UCLA Dialogue across Difference (DaD) Initiative, which is now housed in the Bedari Kindness Institute, is sponsoring a range of programs, trainings and teaching opportunities on campus this year with the aim of fostering an intellectual culture marked by passionate, compassionate and critical engagement.
The last academic year was one of the most challenging in the history of our university; many members of our campus community experienced a profound loss of trust and a fear of sharing their views with those with whom they differ or disagree. Many of us are also experiencing a climate of extreme division and toxicity at the national level and are uncertain about what Election Day will bring.
The DaD Initiative seeks to rebuild this lost trust and hone our collective muscle to talk to one another. Dialogue is not a matter of finding harmony and agreement at every turn. Nor is it a practice that aims at watering down our principles or stifling dissent. Rather, dialogue, as we see it, is about real, meaningful and honest engagement in ways that allow us to negotiate our differences with skill and respect. This kind of dialogue across difference is key to our shared project as a great public university generating knowledge for the benefit of society.
The UCLA DaD Initiative seeks to create frameworks for dialogue on campus this year through these modes:
- The new “Compassionate Conversation” series, co-sponsored by the DaD Initiative and the Bedari Kindness Institute. The series will present discussions on difficult topics that model nuance, compassion and empathy. RSVP for the first installment of the Compassionate Conversation series with Dr. Yasmeen abu Fraiha, an extraordinary physician and humanist, on Nov. 13. Students are especially encouraged to attend.
- An intensive schedule of training opportunities for students, staff and faculty to learn key skills for engaging, facilitating and convening across difference. Through these opportunities, we aim to reach hundreds of members of our community to learn to confront and navigate differences at UCLA. Several workshops this quarter have already taken place, and more will be offered in winter and spring. Please sign up to receive information about upcoming training opportunities. DaD has partnered with the nonprofit Resetting the Table to offer its field-tested framework for conversations across difference and to expand training capacity across campus; at present, eight UCLA community members are undergoing a six-month Resetting the Table ‘train the trainer’ program.
- A new cohort of faculty fellows co-sponsored by the UCLA Teaching and Learning Center that includes 16 instructors from 11 disciplines who will use their classrooms this year as laboratories to promote dialogue across difference.
- A selection of Fiat Lux courses co-sponsored by the Division of Undergraduate Education in spring 2025 that will expose students to new ways of thinking about dialogue across difference.
- An “open conversational spaces” framework in which students can hold informal conversations in times of great contention, especially around the election. On Nov. 6 from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. at Bradley Hall 300, DaD will provide an open space for students in UCLA housing to talk to one another as part of the Office of Residential Life’s “Post-Election Reflection Space.”
- A “Bruin Bridge Builders Fund” available to students who are interested in pursuing dialogue-related opportunities both on and off campus. More details about this fund will be available next quarter.
- A digital clearinghouse of dialogue and bridge-building resources available to the campus community. This clearinghouse is currently in development. Please reach out to us at Kindness@g.ucla.edu if you know of great dialogue-related courses, resources, experts or student activities that should be included.
During this contentious election season and afterwards, we invite you to engage with the Dialogue across Difference Initiative through one or more of the above activities. To stay up to date about these various activities, sign up for our institute’s newsletter, Bedari Kindness Institute Updates.
Sincerely,
David N. Myers
Director, Bedari Kindness Institute, Dialogue across Difference Initiative, and Initiative to Study Hate
Distinguished Professor and Sady and Ludwig Kahn Chair in Jewish History
Maia Ferdman
Deputy Director, Bedari Kindness Institute and Initiative to Study Hate
Staff Director, Dialogue across Difference Initiative