Provost and Dean Renée Cramer is working with faculty to identify places in Dickinson’s curriculum where we can build on and amplify our strengths, in ways that further support our students’ goals.

Groups of faculty are considering revitalizing and expanding majors and minors in the areas of law, politics and justice; global public health; film and media studies; business and finance; and geographic information systems (GIS), data visualization and spatial literacy.

We’re also taking a creative approach to the potential of refreshing our general education curriculum, building on our strengths in areas like Writing in the Disciplines and Ethics Across the Campus and the Curriculum. This work aligns with the growth of our Advising, Internships & Career Center, which through our new career pathways and career communities approach is bringing faculty, students, alumni and families together to support students’ visions for their futures.

President Jones is focused on helping students learn to have difficult but respectful conversations. This fall, 19 students participated in a Speaking & Writing Across Difference class, where they learned theories, skills and techniques that promote productive dialogue and make it possible to share divisive viewpoints without fear of derision, to listen thoughtfully and to disagree in ways that reinforce a sense of shared community.

After passing the class, the students were eligible for paid on-campus employment as student facilitators, helping to lead Dialogues Across Differences discussions on campus and teach associated skills. This critical program is one way Dickinson prepares its students to be leaders in the world.

Another complementary initiative is our Ethics Across the Campus and the Curriculum program. Students are encouraged to use critical-thinking skills to make informed decisions and to listen respectfully to others and engage with the community through conscious, well-considered actions. As part of this program, and in collaboration with the Center for Civic Learning & Action, about 40 seniors participated in a retreat centered on reflecting on who they have become at Dickinson and on the values, ideas and relationships they have developed over their college careers.

Thanks to the 234 donors who contributed more than $2,704,788 this year through both current and endowed gifts to support faculty and academic programming, Dickinson has been able to continue to innovate and strengthen new programs like data analytics and Dialogues Across Differences, while also offering students high-impact research experiences.

“Working in Professor of Biology Mike Roberts' acute myeloid leukemia lab allowed me to practice working in a professional lab setting, delve into topics of cancer treatment and narrow my future focuses in the field of medicine.”
—Kishan Mangru ’25 (biology), who conducted cutting-edge research merging biology, math and data analytics thanks to donor support through the Stafford Fellowship in Bioinformatics.

“There have been some hotly debated subjects, as there should be. Although there’s passion and energy in the class, we welcome that. Even if it gets heated, there’s a very strong sense of respect. … I’m grateful Dickinson was chosen to receive this grant. I feel really good about the future of the college and that this is a priority. This is something that we’re going to make a standard in higher education.”
—Georgia Dahm ’23 (Spanish, international business & management), who participated in Dickinson’s first Dialogues Across Differences class, which was supported by a grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations and aims to help students foster stronger communities through respectful and productive communication.