Bridging Differences in Higher Education Learning Fellowship
February 24, 2025
The application period is now open to join the Bridging Differences in Higher Education Learning Fellowship, an 8-month facilitated virtual learning community running from Fall 2025 through Spring 2026, hosted by UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center (GGSC). The experience will center on the GGSC’s Bridging Differences free online course, giving participants a common reference point that is based on science. Applications are due by April 15, 2025.
The opportunity is open to any leader in higher education who wants to foster more constructive dialogue and understanding across group lines on college campuses in the United States, including lines of race, religious faith, politics, or beyond. Participants will learn from each other at the same time that they’re gaining research-based skills and insights from the GGSC’s online course and companion playbook. Over eight months together, they will connect around the successes, challenges, and questions that come up for them as they try to bridge differences on their campus. There is no cost to participate in the Learning Fellowship, nor does it provide recipients with any financial support.
Facilitated by Dr. Allison Briscoe-Smith, GGSC Senior Fellow and the co-instructor of the Bridging Differences course, the Learning Fellowship will be divided into three separate cohorts:
1. The Campus Cohort is for up to 100 leaders from individual colleges and universities across the United States—faculty, administrators, staff, or students. This is designed as an introductory cohort for campus leaders interested in learning key principles and skills for bridging differences and how they can be applied to their campus, whether inside the classroom or across the campus at large. Applicants do not need to have prior experience with bridge-building work, though ideally they have ideas for how they might bring what they learn from the cohort back to their campus. Apply here!
2. The Organizational Cohort is for representatives from up to 10 organizations that work to bridge differences across at least five different college campuses. Members of this cohort will have more experience supporting cross-group dialogue and other bridge-building efforts in the context of higher education. Through more regular discussions with one another, they will identify challenges facing their field, sharpen their skills and expertise, support one another as they address complicated issues, and unite around common goals to advance their work. Apply here!
Applications for Campus and Organizational cohorts are due by April 15, 2025.
Previous participants have praised the practical skills and community they gained from the Fellowship. Here’s what some of them have said about it:
“A tremendous opportunity to set the bar high for bridging differences and explore how it can be done with a plethora of tools and practical strategies.”
“Thank you for creating and holding space for professionals in the country and around the world to engage in conversations about bridging differences. I’d love to see this practice reach more participants. Much appreciated!”
“The best part, by far, were the discussions with colleagues around the U.S. ... Their enthusiasm for this work was infectious and exciting to me.”
This Learning Fellowship is supported by generous grants from the Educating Character Initiative at Wake Forest University, the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, and the Einhorn Collaborative.
More details about the Fellowship and all three cohorts are provided below.
- Learning Objectives
- Campus & Organizational Cohorts
- About the Lead Facilitator
- Application & Eligibility
- Timeline
Learning Objectives
Participants in all three cohorts will:
- Develop a deeper understanding of science-based strategies to bridge differences
- Explore how these strategies can be applied in different settings on college campuses
- Hone specific skills that can support efforts to bridge differences on and across college campuses
- Connect with other leaders who are doing this work in a similar context, identifying new collaborators and allies
- For the Organizational Cohort: Learn different approaches to key questions and challenges facing their field, coalescing around a set of best practices and goals
Campus & Organizational Cohorts
Members of the Campus and Organizational Cohorts will meet on monthly 90-minute Zoom calls for eight months (from September 2025 to May 2026). The focus of each monthly session will center on one of the eight modules in the Bridging Differences online course. Participants will progress through the course together, sharing ideas for how to apply the lessons from the course to their work on campuses and helping one another work through the challenges and questions that might come up for them as they do this work.
Each facilitated monthly session will include:
- An opening grounding exercise
- An overview of the science covered in that month’s course module
- A presentation from a leading practitioner working to bridge differences on college campuses, explaining how they use the skill covered by that month’s course module
- Two small-group breakout discussions where participants can discuss their own experiences with that month’s content and their ideas for applying it to their work moving forward
- All-group discussions where they can hear from the rest of their peers, with members of the Organizational Cohort joining the Campus Cohort
In their small-group breakout discussions, members of the Organizational Cohort will connect with peers also working across multiple college campuses. Through their discussions, they will share their goals and motivations for doing their work, explore challenging questions for their field, and identify best practices that they would like to share and spread. In the process, they will strengthen relationships with key partners and look for ways to collectively advance their field.
Both fellowship cohorts will be facilitated by Dr. Allison Briscoe-Smith, GGSC Senior Fellow and the co-instructor of the Bridging Differences course.
Application & Eligibility
There is a short application to participate in any of the cohorts, with limited space to support more intimate connections, conversations, and learning.
If you would like to apply, please follow these links:
Applications for Campus and Organizational cohorts are due by April 15, 2025. Please also be aware of the following rules for eligibility:
- Applicants must work on a college or university campus in the United States
- A single individual can apply for multiple cohorts, but they can only participate in a single cohort
If you have any questions about this opportunity, please reach out to: bridgingcourse@berkeley.edu
Timeline
- April 15, 2025: Applications due
- May 16, 2025: Selected participants notified
- September 2025: Campus and Organizational cohort begins with their kick-off call
- October 2025 - April 2026: Monthly meetings of Campus and Organizational cohorts
- May 2026: Closing meeting of Campus & Organizational Cohorts
This Learning Fellowship is supported by generous grants from the Educating Character Initiative at Wake Forest University, the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, and the Einhorn Collaborative.