The University of Pittsburgh is center stage in a new video released by the Institute for Citizens & Scholars and College Presidents for Civic Preparedness.
“Real Talk: Across Campus, Across Divides,” showcases the University’s campus-wide commitment to building the motivation, skills, and social permission for meaningful and productive dialogue across difference. Asking viewers to consider what ‘going deep’ on civil discourse looks like on a university campus, the film features Pitt students, faculty, and staff including Chancellor Joan Gabel, Associate Vice Provost for Inclusive Excellence in Education Belkys Torres, and Dean Carissa Slotterback. In addition to her role as Dean of the School of Public and International Affairs, Slotterback has served as the Co-Chair of Pitt’s Year of Discourse and Dialogue initiative since 2023.
“Universities are places that bring together people from a very wide range of backgrounds and a wide range of perspectives,” Slotterback shared in the film. “One of the things we also recognize is that skills for discourse and dialogue are crucial not just to what students do while they’re on campus or in our classrooms, in our public spaces, but also these are skills that are really crucial as students go out into their careers.”
The film, along with written interviews with each of the participants, can be found online here.