Public universities do more than prepare students for their careers. They also equip them with the skills to participate meaningfully in society, including navigating conversations with people who view the world differently.
On Sept. 16, the College of Letters & Science hosted a fireside chat titled, “The Role of the Public University in Civic Education and Civil Dialogue,” featuring Jane Kamensky, president and CEO of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, and Interim Chancellor Eric M. Wilcots.
L&S Interim Dean Kristen R. Eschenfelder introduced the speakers in Irving & Dorothy Levy Hall, marking the first major event in the new building. Drawing on Kamensky’s expertise as a historian and Wilcots’ experience in higher education, the conversation explored how universities can promote civil discourse and help students engage with diverse perspectives.
For Kamensky, history offers a useful lens for navigating today’s political divisions.
“One of the ways, as a historian committed to rigorous storytelling, that I practice hope is by looking at times when Americans have faced equal problems and found small ways through,” says Kamensky.
She points to the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, whose ideas regarding how the United States ought to be governed frequently clashed. Even through lifelong disagreement, they were able to put their political differences aside and be charitable to one another in their final years, without trying to change each other’s minds.
Wilcots asked Kamensky how universities can balance fostering open dialogue with addressing the concern of providing a platform for ideas considered hateful. In response, she argued that people learn best from actively engaging with ideas they strongly disagree with, rather than immediately dismissing opposing beliefs as harmful.
“I think we can pull back that concept of words as harm and think a lot more deeply and a lot less reflexively than we tend to, and about what I might learn from hearing from somebody who thinks radically differently than I do,” says Kamensky.
Wilcots noted recent declines in public trust of institutions, including higher education. He wondered what the university’s role is in rebuilding that trust.
“With most such challenges, the hardest thing to do, and maybe the first thing to do, is to look in the mirror,” says Kamensky. “I think it’s really important for universities to look at themselves and say, ‘What did we get wrong?’”
She believes that taking accountability for those shortcomings is an essential step toward rebuilding trust and strengthening the relationship between a university and its community.
Wilcots highlighted UW–Madison initiatives, such as the Wisconsin Exchange and Deliberation Dinners, designed to bring people from various backgrounds together for constructive conversations. Kamensky emphasizes that this work is part of a university’s broader civic responsibility. By creating opportunities for students to practice listening and work through disagreement, universities can help develop the civic skills they will carry with them beyond campus.
“I think you look for the skills you need on a campus and recognize that pluralism itself is a strength,” says Kamensky.
The event was sponsored by the Paul Martin Wolff Center for American Thought, Culture, and Society. The center enriches the lives of students, faculty, staff and the broader community by providing an interdisciplinary view of American life and history, inspiring a commitment to lifelong learning at the highest level.