On Wednesday, June 17, Erin Sanders O’Leary, Vice Provost for Teaching & Learning, and David N. Myers, Director of the Bedari Kindness Institute shared this message via BruinPost.
The Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) and the Dialogue across Difference Initiative are excited to announce the third cohort of the year-long Dialogue across Difference (DaD) Faculty Fellows Program. Participants collaborate with colleagues from across the university with the goal of building capacity to support dialogue in their classrooms. The second cohort has completed its activities for the 2025–26 academic year and will continue to incorporate DaD concepts into their teaching.
The third DaD Faculty Fellows cohort will learn best practices for evidence-based, inclusive teaching that foster learning environments in which open dialogue can thrive. Participants will also build community while working to incorporate DaD values of intellectual engagement, curiosity, empathy, active listening, and critical thinking into their course materials and teaching practices during the 2026–27 academic year.
Cohort 3 Members
We welcome and congratulate the new cohort members, who include:
- Nupur Agrawal; Internal Medicine and Pediatrics
- Elena Dominguez; Neuroscience
- Inmaculada María García Sánchez; Education
- Thomas Hitchner; Writing Programs
- Jennifer Jung-Kim; Asian Languages and Cultures
- Ivy Kwok; Undergraduate Education Initiatives
- Ananda Marin; Education
- Michael McCormack-Colón; Masters of Student Affairs
- McKenna Middleton; Spanish and Portuguese
- Gifty-Maria Ntim; Internal Medicine and Pediatrics
- Kenechukwu Ojukwu; Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
- Ashley Oliver; Anesthesiology
- Gabriel Page; Writing Programs
- Jesse Ruskin; Ethnomusicology
- Michelle Smith; Asian Languages and Cultures
Cohort 2 Members
The TLC and DaD extend our appreciation and congratulations to the second cohort members:
- Jennifer Chatmon; School of Education & Information Studies
- Faith Deckard; Sociology
- Cambria Garell; David Geffen School of Medicine, Pediatrics
- Elisheva Gross; Psychology
- Aryun Hahm; Undergraduate Education Initiatives
- David Kim; European Languages & Transcultural Studies
- Deborah Lehman; David Geffen School of Medicine, Pediatrics
- Robert Lucero; School of Nursing
- Victoria Marks; World Arts and Cultures/ Dance
- Lauri Mattenson; Writing Programs
- Grace Meng; School of Law
- Chris Mott; English
- Caitlin O’Grady; Anthropology
- Emily Quinn; Human Genetics
- Jimena N. Rodríguez; Spanish and Portuguese
- Philip Sayegh; Psychology
- Jason Sexton; Sociology
- Rebecca Shipe; Institute of the Environment and Sustainability
- Raffi Wartanian; Writing Programs
- Chris Wegemer; Sociology
More information about the DaD Faculty Fellows program is available on the TLC website or by contacting instructorsupport@teaching.ucla.edu.