Education and Scholarship

New Ford Foundation Program Seeks to Foster Constructive Dialogue About Sensitive Issues on College Campuses

New York, NY—April 4, 2005. The Ford Foundation today announced a $2.5 million grants initiative, Difficult Dialogues, to support scholarship, teaching and civil dialogue about difficult political, religious, racial and cultural issues in undergraduate education in the United States. The goal is to help colleges and universities create a campus environment where sensitive subjects can be discussed in a spirit of open scholarly inquiry, intellectual rigor and with respect for different viewpoints.

"Debates taking place on college campuses often mirror controversial issues being examined in the society at large," said Susan V. Berresford, president of the Ford Foundation. "Educators are seeking ways to foster constructive dialogue on these matters and at the same time reduce intolerance and threats to academic freedom. Foundation resources can help this effort."

The Difficult Dialogues initiative was launched with a letter to college presidents from Berresford and 15 distinguished educators, including the presidents of 10 colleges and universities across the country. The initiative will support new and existing courses and academic programs that increase knowledge of the religious and cultural complexity of American society and engage students in constructive discussion of conflicting viewpoints.

The foundation has issued a Request for Proposals inviting accredited, degree granting, non-profit institutions with general undergraduate programs to submit preliminary proposals by May 16, 2005. Through a national selection process, the foundation will invite the most promising projects to submit formal proposals. Ford will award approximately 25 grants of up to $100,000 to selected institutions.

Difficult Dialogues is part of a broader, $6.7 million effort by the foundation to understand and combat anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and other forms of bigotry in the United States and Europe. It builds on the foundation’s history of supporting efforts by colleges and universities to foster more inclusive campus environments and to engage effectively with the growing racial and ethnic diversity of their student bodies.

The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For more than half a century it has been a resource for innovative people and institutions worldwide, guided by its goals of strengthening democratic values, reducing poverty and injustice, promoting international cooperation and advancing human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and Russia.

The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For more than half a century it has been a resource for innovative people and institutions worldwide, guided by its goals of strengthening democratic values, reducing poverty and injustice, promoting international cooperation and advancing human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and Russia.