This fall, CORE 100: Identity, Culture and Community, looks a little different. Students may have noticed the changes: fewer books on the syllabus, a stronger emphasis on themes and a move away from the long essays of the past. But holding all these changes together is something new — an online program called Perspectives. Developed by the Constructive Dialogue Institute, a nonprofit organization rooted in social-psychological research, Perspectives is a six-lesson curriculum that includes three practice dialogues. Its aim? To help students build the skills of constructive dialogue: listening, asking questions, sharing stories, navigating conflict and finding common ground.

As a professor of education, I believe these changes — and Perspectives in particular — deserve more than a passing glance. They may feel like small adjustments on the surface, but they strike at something essential: how we prepare students to live and work in a divided world. The sequence begins with “The Divided Mind” and “Us and Them.” These lessons confront the uncomfortable truth that humans naturally categorize — and sometimes exclude. Our brains are wired to spot patterns, which makes us efficient learners, but also vulnerable to bias. Naming that up front matters. It forces us to admit division isn’t only “out there” in society. It’s in us, too.

But Perspectives doesn’t stop there. It turns quickly toward dialogue: “Tell Me More,” “Share Stories” and “Navigating Conflict.” Students practice asking questions, listening with patience and sharing experiences in structured, meaningful ways. This isn’t “touchy-feely” filler. It’s training for real life, where conflict is inevitable and empathy is often in short supply.

At its heart, Perspectives is built around five principles. They’re simple to read, but difficult to live out: Let go of winning. You can’t connect or persuade if your goal is to defeat. Ask questions. Real dialogue starts with curiosity, not fixed conclusions. Share stories. When topics are sensitive, stories soften defenses in ways facts alone cannot. Respond rather than react. Conflict invites us to slow down, breathe and choose a better path. Find what’s shared. Even in disagreement, common ground exists — if you look for it. These principles echo what I’ve seen in my elementary, high school, college, and graduate classrooms. A student who feels heard — even if not agreed with — walks away more open to other ideas. A group that shares stories builds trust that data alone cannot provide. Responding rather than reacting changes the heat of a conversation into the spark of understanding.

The peer-to-peer activities bring these principles to life. “What We Bring” reminds us that everyone enters a room carrying assumptions and experiences. “How We Share Our Story” asks students to risk vulnerability. “How We Respond to Conflict” tackles the hardest part — staying human when things get tense. For future teachers, these skills are more than theory. Every child brings a story. Every parent-teacher conference holds the potential for conflict. Learning to listen, respond, and find what’s shared can mean the difference between surviving a classroom and building one where students thrive. I know some people will resist. Perhaps some have thought, “This feels like group therapy,” or “Why do I need this when I could be focusing on my major?” My response? What could be more practical than learning how to work with people who don’t think, vote, or believe like you?

If Perspectives is treated as a checkbox, it will fail. The success of this curriculum depends on how seriously we take it. Faculty need training to guide tough conversations. Students need to lean in with honesty. Without that, the program risks becoming hollow. I’ll admit, my feelings are mixed — excited and anxious at once. Excited, because this is what higher education should be: a chance to practice courage and empathy in real time. Anxious, because it’s tempting to retreat into cynicism, to dismiss dialogue as “just talk.” But I’ve seen “just talk” change people. I’ve seen students revise their assumptions after hearing a peer’s story of poverty, race, or disability. I’ve seen quiet students find their voices when they realize their story matters.  I’ve seen students of all ages rethink their opinions because of one pivotal conversation. These are small moments, but they ripple outward, resulting in better teachers, better leaders, better citizens. The new ICC curriculum is different, yes. Fewer books, fewer big essays, more themes. But what holds it together — Perspectives — is worth our investment. It’s not perfect, and it will be messy. But it is bold enough to matter.

So let’s not treat this as yet another program. Let’s treat it as an invitation. An invitation to let go of winning, to ask better questions, to share our stories, to respond rather than react, and to find what we share even when we disagree. Because in the end, “moving forward together” isn’t just the last lesson of Perspectives. It’s the point.