Two new programs—Conversations for Community and Dinners Across Differences—strive to encourage dialogue and bring people together in informal conversations over shared meals.

Conversations for Community will fund small gatherings to discuss topics of interest over a meal. The program is open to all members of the Penn community, in groups of four to eight people, for meals at campus-area eateries. It aims to expand the mission of the existing Campaign for Community, founded in 2015, to “encourage dialogue and discussion among members of the community about issues with the potential for difference and disagreement.” Members of the Penn community can sign up to participate on the Conversations for Community webpage.

Dinners Across Difference will extend this same concept to dinners organized within one school to discuss issues of importance and interest to that school’s community. More information will be forthcoming about this initiative. Along with these new programs, individual faculty members also will have the opportunity to host small dinners with Penn students.

Adapted from a Penn Today article by Kristen de Groot, December 1, 2023.