Liz Delillo
Staff writer
Dartmouth University President Sian Leah Beilock led the launch of Dartmouth Dialogues at the university, an initiative in which students participate in conversations across personal and political divides.
“Our goal is to try and empower our students to leave with the tools to effectively talk across polarization, which I think — more than ever — is needed in our society,” she said.
Beilock will speak at 10:45 a.m. today in the Amphitheater for the Chautauqua Lecture Series, part of this week’s focus on “Themes of Transformation: Forces Shaping Our Tomorrow.”
In Dartmouth Dialogues, students partake in conversations intended to help them develop and practice skills, better equipping them for difficult yet meaningful dialogues in an increasingly polarized world.
“Our students and our faculty are modeling how to see the common humanity in each other, to come together (and) across differences,” she said. “At an institution like Dartmouth, every day you’re rooming, or in the dining hall, with people who have very different political views, and I love that.”
Beilock assumed her role as president in 2023, amidst heightening social and political tensions on college campuses. Prior to joining Dartmouth, she served as the president of Barnard College at Columbia University.
Beilock’s lecture will address the purpose of higher education institutions, particularly how educational missions can take shape in divisive political climates.
She said that at institutions of higher education, “our goal is to be centered and be focused on our educational mission because that allows different people and different views to push at each other on our campuses, which get (us) to the best outcomes.”
Dartmouth Dialogues does precisely that. Dialogues have included special topics, such as immigration and ones on the Middle East, with the aim of helping students cultivate those skills in order to bridge political divides.
Elaborating on the forces of change Dartmouth grapples with currently, Beilock said, “There’s government overreach into what we teach or how we teach,” as well as the recognition that “we as academic institutions need to self-reflect and do better.”
“Two things can be true at the same,” she said. “… I think we can hold both of those truths.”
Beilock is a renowned cognitive scientist. Her scientific work addresses cognitive performance under pressure, focusing on students who get anxious when working with math. Distinct from someone’s theoretical ability to engage in mathematics, this “math anxiety” nonetheless inhibits their cognitive performance.
