Ford Foundation Grant to Promote Campus Sensitivity and Respect for Differing Viewpoints
Barnard is one of 26 higher education institutions that will receive $100,000 for academic programs to promote campus environments where sensitive subjects can be discussed in a spirit of open scholarly inquiry, academic freedom and with respect for different viewpoints.
The Ford Foundation made the awards in its "Difficult Dialogues" initiative in New York City on Dec. 12, 2005.
Barnard will develop a faculty seminar and new curricular material for first-year students and for seniors, all focused on the intersection of religion and the academy. Among the developments will be a new game on the founding of Israel for the College's signature and award-winning Reacting to the Past program, which consists of elaborate games, set in the past in which students are assigned "roles" informed by classic texts at major turning points in history. The Reacting program has been adopted by campuses nationwide and the new Israel game will be offered by Barnard to 50 campuses.
Last spring, Ford Foundation President Susan V. Berresford and higher education leaders, including Barnard President Judith Shapiro, sent a letter to academic leaders about the challenges of sustaining informed political and civil discourse in society today. "In the wake of 9/11 and the continuing conflicts in the Middle East, the tone of academic debate has become increasingly polarized, and, in some cases, we see attempts to silence individuals, faculty and students alike, with controversial views," the letter stated. "Unrestrained academic scholarship and the expression of a wide diversity of viewpoints are the hallmarks of the American university system and must by vigorously defended."
The Difficult Dialogues initiative was created in response to reports of growing intolerance and efforts to curb academic freedom at colleges and universities. The goal is to help institutions address this challenge through academic and campus programs that enrich learning, encourage new scholarship and engage students and faculty in constructive dialogue about contentious political, religious, racial and cultural issues.
"We are honored to join the Ford Foundation in this important initiative," said Barnard President Judith Shapiro. "We feel particularly well suited to address this challenge, given the religious diversity of our student population, our culture of openness, our historic willingness to engage in passionate -- and sometimes discomforting -- conversation about the pressing issues, and our location in a cosmopolitan but contentious city. And we believe firmly that the college experience is not only about comfort and support: it is also about the kind of intellectual discomfort and challenge that is essential to growth and learning." "Colleges and universities are uniquely suited to expand knowledge, understanding and discussion of controversial issues that affect us all," said Berresford, president of the Ford Foundation. "The selected projects illustrate the thoughtful and creative ways institutions are promoting intellectually rigorous scholarship and open debate that is essential to higher education."
Barnard's initiative will be centered in the Barnard Center for Research on Women, founded in 1971, and one of the first feminist research institutes with a long history of taking on difficult dialogues and working to move the conversation forward. In recent years both the annual Scholar and Feminist Conference and the accompanying web-journal, "The Scholar and Feminist Online, " have focused on topics like the role of public sentiments after the September 11th attacks and responding to racism on campus.
Because of the religious diversity of its student community and a campus culture that values respect for diversity, Barnard has been at the forefront of addressing religion as an important component in explorations of diversity.
Over the course of the two year initiative, the 26 institutions will be invited to share their experiences and ideas at regional conferences coordinated by the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Center will award $10,000 stipends to an additional sixteen higher education institutions to allow them to participate in the initiative. It will also host a Web-based forum for project directors to share ideas online.
Other examples of projects that will receive funding include: at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, new courses, faculty seminars and campus roundtables on religion and religious conflict; at Queens College in New York, the development of an expanded curriculum for promoting understanding and informed discussion about the conflict in the Middle East; and a project at Yale University that will examine whether courses about controversial issues increase tolerance and respect for different viewpoints among students.
The Ford Foundation launched Difficult Dialogues in April 2005 by inviting proposals from all accredited, degree granting, non-profit institutions with general undergraduate programs. Over 675 preliminary proposals were submitted, signaling widespread interest in finding effective ways to teach and discuss sensitive topics. A panel of external higher education experts reviewed the preliminary proposals and selected 136 institutions to submit final proposals.
Difficult Dialogues is part of a broader, $12 million effort by the Ford Foundation to understand and combat anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and other forms of bigotry in the United States and Europe. It builds on the foundation's history of supporting efforts by colleges and universities to foster more inclusive campus environments and to engage effectively with the growing racial, religious and ethnic diversity of their student bodies.
In addition to Barnard, the following institutions will receive $100,000 grants:
Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
Bunker Hill Community College, Boston, MA
LaGuardia Community College, Long Island City, NY
Clark University, Worcester, MA
Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Macalester College, St. Paul, MN
Mars Hill College, Mars Hill, NC
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
Ohio University, Athens, OH
Portland Community College, Portland, OR
Queens College, Flushing, NY
San José State University, San Jose, CA
Trinity University, San Antonio, TX
The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL
University of Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Pacific University, Anchorage, AK
University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
University of Michigan-Dearborn, Dearborn, MI
University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO
University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
University of Washington, Seattle, WA
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI
Yale University, New Haven, CT
The following institutions will receive $10,000 stipends (to enable them to participate in the initiative):
Bennett College for Women, Greensboro, NC
Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Hollins University and the American Association of University Professors, Roanoke, VA
Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts
Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH
Portland State University, Portland, OR
Rider University, Lawrenceville, NJ
Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA
Spelman College, Atlanta, GA
State University of New York at Albany, Albany, NY
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR
University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO
University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL
The University of Texas at Brownsville & Texas Southmost College, Brownsville, TX
Utah State University, Logan, UT
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