Freshmen Discuss Big Questions in “Dialogues Across Difference”

A Middlesex education extends far beyond the classes you’ll find in a typical curriculum. Our students engage deeply in a broad range of programming aimed to help them grow not just intellectually, but emotionally and ethically as well. Take our Mindfulness program, for example, which helps our students see their thoughts, feelings, and emotions more clearly. Our Community Life program, meanwhile, helps our students navigate the myriad issues they face as teenagers in the 21st century. This semester, as part of our Global Studies program, we are thrilled to introduce our freshmen to “Dialogues Across Difference,” a weekly class that meets in small discussion groups (with no homework!).

Dialogues Across Difference aims to teach students how to have difficult conversations about world topics using language that is compassionate, analytical, and free of judgment. Students will be introduced to contemporary content from around the world that addresses issues of conflict including, but not limited to, race, gender, religion, cultural appropriation, sexuality, and class. The purpose of the course is to begin the process of preparing students for unfamiliar situations they will find themselves in. This unfamiliarity includes traveling to other parts of the country and world, speaking with people of different languages, cultures, identities, or values, and working or interning which require interaction with people from different backgrounds. By the end of the course, students will have begun to develop the cross cultural competency skills needed to enter and function in an increasingly global community and workforce.