Civil Discourse Project: 2024 Faculty Summer Seminar, “Teaching Civil Discourse in the Classroom”
The Civil Discourse Project is pleased to announce a call for applications for the third annual faculty summer seminar, “Teaching Civil Discourse in the Classroom,” made possible by a generous grant from The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.
Participants will have the option of attending either May or June sessions. Each seminar will include 20 faculty from a variety institutions and backgrounds.
The two-day seminars, to be held at Duke, will be led by John Rose, Jennifer Smith, and Nasser Hussain. They will cover topics including potential course content and best practices for effectively promoting civil discussion about sensitive topics in the classroom. There will also be general group discussion of issues surrounding civil discourse in higher education. The seminar will help prepare professors to teach a course based on CDP’s own highly popular class at Duke, “How to Think in an Age of Political Polarization” (HTAPP).
The seminar will be free of charge with food, lodging, and flights covered. Participants will stay at the beautiful JB Duke Hotel on Duke’s campus. In order to participate, applicants must agree to teach a course similar to Duke’s HTAPP within three semesters of finishing the seminar. Participants will receive a stipend of $5,000 ($4,000 upon completion of the seminar and $1,000 upon teaching their class at their own institution). Successful applicants will need to acquire written approval from their department chair or dean allowing them to teach such a course within that timeframe. In addition, participants will agree to participate in a Zoom follow-up meeting within three semesters of the summer seminar, where they will present the results of their course.
Application Requirements
Materials may be emailed to Abby Van Vliet (abby.vanvliet@duke.edu) and should include the following attachments:
- a curriculum vitae or resume;
- a 1-2 page statement explaining one’s interest in the seminar;
- and any other relevant documentation, including relevant course syllabi, publications, etc.
For questions concerning the seminar or application, or to request a copy of last year’s seminar agenda, please email John Rose (john.rose@duke.edu).
Click here to learn more and to apply >>
Applications are being handled on a rolling basis, with a final submission deadline of April 15, 2024.
From the program:
The Civil Discourse Project (CDP) sponsors courses, events, and scholarship that promote civil discourse through modeling or teaching the capacities and virtues necessary to engage in healthy exchange across difference. At CDP, we aim to create, both inside and outside the classroom, intellectually diverse communities of friends who will both support and challenge each other in a collective pursuit of truth and knowledge—enabling all to become better thinkers, people, community members, citizens, and leaders. We maintain that such community requires freedom of thought, inquiry, and expression for faculty and students alike.
Learn more about the Civil Discourse Project >>
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