1636 EVENT: Join 1636 Forum and HKS professor Julia Minson (AB ‘99) — creator of Harvard College’s new required first-year constructive disagreement training for a first look at the program. We’ll unpack the design and research-backed strategies behind the training, along with Minson’s new book, How to Disagree Better, in a live Zoom conversation and audience Q&A on Monday, March 23, from 7:30-8:30 p.m. ET. Register here.
When constructive, disagreement is part of a rigorous Harvard education, not a distraction from it. Disagreement can broaden students’ horizons, test their assumptions, and sharpen their thinking. In recent years, Harvard College has said it considers the ability to disagree constructively as a key practice for students who are working to hone the values of curiosity, intellectual humility, and open-mindedness — values that are central to the College experience and the pursuit of Veritas.
But without the skills to keep disagreement productive, students often move from sharing to silence or escalation. And that’s been a problem for the College. According to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ Classroom Social Compact Committee, in 2024, only 33% of seniors felt comfortable expressing their opinions about controversial topics in class.
Since Fall 2024, the College has rolled out a number of constructive dialogue efforts to improve this problem, ranging from learning modules to events, programs, and curriculum offerings.
Now, the College is showing a next level of commitment by taking the lead on developing a new required training for incoming first-year students.
The new training was designed by Harvard Kennedy School professor Julia Minson and is grounded in her research on constructive disagreement, based on studies with thousands of participants. Her theory of change: receptiveness to an opposing view has to be recognized by the other person to shape a conversation’s trajectory.
Students will complete most of the program online over the summer, and then once on campus, they’ll reinforce the same skills in face-to-face sessions, with facilitators trained in the material.
The new training features production of high quality video, development of AI practice tools, integration into Harvard’s learning management system, and significant internal coordination — a heavier lift than most similar offerings.
So why is Harvard putting in the work? Part of the answer lies in the details:
The new training is highly modular in format which makes it both tailored to Harvard College and adaptable over time. Minson’s research-grounded core lessons will stay consistent, while surrounding components can be refreshed. Those components include AI-generated disagreement scenarios that students will analyze and cameos by College faculty and students. The product can match what each incoming class is navigating as campus flashpoints shift.
The program is built for results. It distinguishes disagreement (different views) from conflict (escalation fueled by judgments about reasoning or motives), then teaches concrete linguistic behaviors designed to keep the former from becoming the latter. The goal isn’t to rewire Harvard students’ beliefs; it’s to make disagreement more consistently constructive as it plays out in sections, labs, and dining halls.
An AI chatbot turns simulated practice into coaching. While AI-chatbot practice is increasingly common in constructive dialogue trainings, the custom-built “Nelly” (named after Minson’s grandmother) is expected to be the only tool that also provides coaching and feedback based on peer-reviewed research. That feedback loop encourages students to iterate and improve.
The program takes a rigorous but realistic approach to measurement. The focus on conversational behavior means that success is defined by demonstrated changes in students’ communication, not just self-reported comfort with disagreement or enjoyment of the training. While Minson and her colleagues are clear-eyed about the challenges of measurement, they plan to subject the training to the level of evaluation that would stand up to the scrutiny typical of academic peer review.
The new training can scale within Harvard and beyond it. If the program works at Harvard College, its core could be adapted across Harvard’s other Schools — for example, with Business School or Medical School-specific disagreement scenarios layered into the core content. And if the College rollout proves effective at scale, that design may be of interest to other universities, too.
But there might also be a broader reason. Harvard is choosing an in-house, Harvard faculty-run intervention because no one has cracked the code on constructive disagreement at scale — and because as one of the world’s foremost academic institutions, Harvard has the capacity to test, measure, and revise, bringing unparalleled intellectual resources to bear on the problem. The payoff of taking this path is conditional: the benefits materialize if Harvard treats the rollout as an ongoing project, follows the data where it leads, and keeps the program oriented around measurable effectiveness.
In choosing an in-house, faculty-run program, Harvard is investing up front in infrastructure meant to improve the conditions for learning campus-wide. That means classrooms and residential spaces where disagreement produces sharper thinking, not disengagement or ostracism. Measurement may be imperfect, and long-term effects may be hard to observe cleanly. But at a place like Harvard, that’s not a reason to stop. It’s a reason to keep testing, learning, and iterating. If any university can accomplish this, it’s Harvard.
Ask 1636
Send us your Harvard and higher education questions!
Q: What is Harvard Time?
“Harvard Time” was the Faculty of Arts and Science’s (FAS) old schedule policy in which all classes started 7 minutes after its stated start time, to allow travel between buildings (for example, a class would start at 1:07 am instead of 10:00 am). In practice, it carried over to many aspects of campus life, with meetings and events often operating on Harvard Time too. In 2017, FAS voted to end the policy ahead of the new School of Engineering and Applied Sciences campus opening in Allston, as getting across the river would take more than seven minutes.
Events
London, UK — March 17 from 6:00-8:00 pm GMT: Meet Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Dean Jeremy Weinstein (PhD ’03) at this HKS on the Road series event. Register here.
Virtual — April 1 from 10:00-11:00 am ET: At this Inside HBS series event, Harvard Business School (HBS) Dean Srikant Datar and Executive Director of MBA and Doctoral Programs and External Relations Jana Kierstead will discuss recent developments and priorities at HBS, including around AI and entrepreneurship. Register here.
Cambridge, MA and Virtual — April 9 from 5:30-7:00 pm ET: Harvard Graduate School of Education is hosting University Professor Danielle Allen (PhD ‘02) on the role of schools in civic education as the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, with discussion focused on patriotism, pluralism, and democratic participation in polarized times. Register here.
Washington, DC — April 15 from 5:30-8:00 pm ET: Meet HKS Dean Jeremy Weinstein at this HKS on the Road series event. Register here.
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FYIs
FAS Revises Policy To Permit Indoor Signs Visible Outside
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) updated its campus use rules in early March to explicitly allow faculty, students, and staff to display signs inside “private work areas” (including offices, dorm rooms, and other private workspaces) even if they are visible from outside.
The update follows “months of faculty pressure” after administrators required two biology professors to remove their “Black Lives Matter” window display, citing a ban on “self-mounted displays.” The sign, which was originally posted in 2020 before the rules took effect in 2024, had never formally been approved.
After 18 faculty members — including the two biology professors — sought a faculty vote to change the policy in February, FAS updated the guidance in early March. At the faculty meeting, FAS Dean Hopi Hoekstra also announced a new faculty committee to review campus use and operations.
Harvard Counters Grad Student Union Wage Proposal as Potential Strike Nears
Harvard rejected the Harvard Graduate Student Union-United Auto Workers’ (HGSU-UAW) wage proposal at a Tuesday bargaining session, countering with smaller raises as contract negotiations enter their second year.
HGSU-UAW proposed closing the pay gap between teaching fellows (TFs) and research assistants (RAs) — a change it said would raise TF pay by roughly 74% — along with a 12% base-salary increase and 5% annual raises.
Harvard’s counteroffer includes a 10% raise over four years and does not equalize TF and RA monthly pay; the sides also disputed union-security fees, protections for non-citizen workers, and grievance procedures.
The union is also conducting an ongoing strike-authorization vote that could pave the way for a strike if negotiations fail. HGSU-UAW represents Harvard PhD student workers, who often serve as TFs for at least one semester leading the small discussion sections that accompany Harvard College lecture courses.
Harvard Law Caps New Student Groups; Existing Groups Report Donation Delays
Harvard Law School (HLS) has capped the number of recognized student organizations at roughly 90, citing financial constraints limiting the school’s ability to audit and oversee additional student-organization accounts. During this year’s application cycle, the HLS Student Government approved three of nine prospective clubs.
In response to the decision, the prospective president of the rejected HLS Pickleball Club wrote, “We have a large base of HLS students who want to get active and play pickleball, and this decision has been detrimental to our campus experiences.”
Separately, leaders of at least seven HLS student organizations said months-long delays in administrators processing external donations have strained budgets and, in some cases, forced students to cover costs out of pocket for time-sensitive expenses; an HLS spokesperson said the “vast majority” of gifts are processed within an expected 10-week window.
The University has implemented a number of austerity measures, including a “temporary pause on all non-essential staff and faculty hiring,” as it braces for a $350+ million annual endowment tax. Harvard has said this tax will mean “less funding available for scholarships, teaching, and research.”
IOP Interim Co-Directors Won’t Seek Permanent Role, Emphasize Nonpartisan Mission
Harvard Kennedy School’s (HKS) Institute of Politics (IOP) interim co-directors Ned Price (MPA ’10) and Beth Myers said they will not seek the permanent director role.
The search committee for a single new director includes IOP staff, a faculty representative, and student leaders. Price noted student input has been central, including feedback gathered before the job description was published.
The co-directors emphasized that the IOP is making a concerted effort to broaden outreach and bring more conservative voices to the IOP as part of its nonpartisan mission. That includes meeting regularly with conservative student groups and, Myers said, inviting conservative podcast host Emily Jashinsky after student suggestions.
They also shared that the IOP is expanding small, informal events that put students in direct conversation with political figures. They pointed to near-daily lunch discussions with visiting speakers, which Price called “some of the best conversations” happening on campus.
Price and Myers took over following the death of former IOP Director Setti Warren in October. Myers said she serves part time while Price serves full time and leads much of the IOP’s day-to-day work.
ADL Rates Harvard a C in 2026 Campus Antisemitism Report Card
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) gave Harvard a C in its 2026 Campus Antisemitism Report Card, with ratings of “Above Expectations” for publicly disclosed administrative actions, “Excellent” for Jewish life on campus, and “Medium” for campus conduct and climate concerns.
This year, Yale, Princeton, Cornell, Columbia, and Stanford all received Cs, while Dartmouth, Brown, and Penn received Bs. MIT received a D.
In prior years, ADL has received some criticism for its report card system within the Jewish community. With its inaugural ratings in 2024, Adam Lehman (JD ’92), CEO and President of Hillel International, said: “We do not believe it is constructive or accurate to try to assign grades to schools as a means of assessing the totality of Jewish student experience at those campuses. Efforts to do so, however well-intended, produce misleading impressions regarding the actual Jewish student experience at those schools.”
More News at Harvard
The Crimson: “HGSE Dean Nonie Lesaux Defends Diversity Efforts Amid Federal Pressure on Harvard”
The Crimson: “‘Full Steam Ahead’: IOP Co-Directors Say Program Stabilized After Years of Turnover”
The Crimson: “Harvard Ramps Up Interfaith Programming Amid Effort to Strengthen Religious Literacy on Campus”
The Crimson: “Nearly 1 in 3 Harvard Varsity Athletes Concentrate in Economics”
The Crimson: “Pritzker Hall Still Nearly $40 Million Short of Fundraising Goal as Construction Continues”
The Crimson: “Harvard Library Tests AI Tools to Help Researchers Navigate Collections”
The Crimson: “Harvard Raises $1 Million Toward New Sailing Center as Aging Boathouse Deteriorates”
The Crimson: “Winthrop House Unveils Plaque After Harvard Drops ‘John’ From House Name”
The Crimson: “Judith Singer to Step Down as Senior Vice Provost for Faculty After 18 Years”
Harvard Graduate School of Education: “How to Disagree Better: Strategies for Constructive Conversations” — feat. HKS professor Julia Minson (AB ‘99) and her Disagreeing Better initiative
The Crimson: “Don't Balance the Books on the Faculty” — editorial by The Crimson Editorial Board
The Crimson: “The Right Change on Campus Displays” — editorial by The Crimson Editorial Board
The Crimson: “Dissent: Keep the Politics Out of Office Hours” — op-ed by Henry Haidar (AB ’28)
The Crimson: “The Cost of Letting AI Decide” — op-ed by Tara Malhotra (AB ’29)
More News Beyond Harvard
The Atlantic: “Trump’s Assault on Higher Education Has Hit a Snag” — feat. University professor Noah Feldman (AB ‘92)
New Yorker: “The Unmaking of the American University” — feat. Harvard, by Columbia Journalism professor Nicholas Lemann (AB ‘76)
New York Times: “Democratic States Sue Over Trump Demand That Colleges Provide Race Data”
Princetonians for Free Speech: “Does President Eisgruber Get Free Speech Right? Part III: Equality, Power, and Revisionism: Princeton President Eisgruber’s Shameful Evasions”
Brown Daily Herald: “Faculty vote to replace Paxson as faculty meeting chair”
Yale Daily News: “Yale boosts payments to New Haven, pledging $230 million over 7 years”
The Dartmouth: “Dartmouth Libraries faces more than $1 million in budget cuts over next two fiscal years”
Stanford Daily: “Students with OAE accommodations blocked from forming roommate groups under new housing rules”
Town and Country: “How Much Do Students at Yale Actually Use AI for Schoolwork?”
Washington Square News (NYU): “NYU to hold new identity-based grad events”
The Free Press: “Why Grad Students at Columbia May Go on Strike”
The Free Press: “How Much of Science Is Fake?”
Brandeis Center: “U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Hearing on Campus Anti-Semitism” — congressional testimony by Kenneth Marcus, founder of the Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law
Progressive Policy Institute: “The Distortion of American Studies: How the Field’s Leading Journal Has Embraced a Worldview as Slanted as Donald Trump’s”
Progressive Policy Institute: “The Rise of Economic Affirmative Action: Universities are Finding New and Better Paths to Diversity”
Third Way: “What Voters Think About New Higher Education Loan Limits and Accountability Reforms”
Anthropic: “Anthropic partners with CodePath to bring Claude to the US’s largest collegiate computer science program”
PEN America: “Utah Bill Allowing Students to Refuse Coursework Threatens Academic Freedom”
Jewish Insider: “Conservative students alarmed about College Republicans leader with Nick Fuentes ties”
Inside Higher Ed: “Presidents Pressured in Trump’s Second Term”
Education Next: “Restorative Justice Didn’t Deliver. Why?” — by Jennifer Weber, K-12 Education Policy at the Manhattan Institute