Tufts joins eight other Bay State institutions in this cross-university initiative
Tufts has announced “Dialogue & Action in an Age of Divides,” a panel series established in conjunction with eight other colleges and universities in Massachusetts.
In addition to Tufts, the participating universities are Boston College, Boston University, Brandeis University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern University, University of Massachusetts, and Wellesley College.
The panel series, which will be convened virtually and livestreamed, features conversations among colleagues from across the participating universities in service of tackling difficult issues and modeling constructive dialogue. After exchanges among the panelists, moderators take questions from the virtual audience for each panel.
In addition to presenting the panels, each university may offer an opportunity for students to gather in person for facilitated conversation soon after the conclusion of each livestream.
In the first event, “Hate and Free Speech,” held January 29, the moderator and panelists discussed the significance of free speech—and its limitations—in the context of controversies over the ways in which speech can relate to antisemitism, Islamophobia, and other identity-based racisms. Moderated by Roderick Ireland, former chief justice of the Supreme Court, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and Distinguished Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University, the panel also included faculty members from Boston College, Boston University, and UMass Boston.
The second event in the series, “Coming Together Across Difference: Finding Common Ground Across Identities and Political Divides,” will be held on Tuesday, February 13. More information is available on the series website hosted by Northeastern University.