In the midst of a polarized political environment at Cornell, Peter Loewen, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, is teaching GOVT 1109: “Disagreement," which aims to connect students with different beliefs for conversation.
In an email statement to The Sun, Loewen wrote that he created the course because he believes that disagreements are “at the heart of a healthy university and [a] healthy democracy.” Before he assumed the role of Dean for CAS, Loewen was the director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy and Policy, Elections and Representation Lab at the University of Toronto, which uses survey data to understand political behaviors and decision-making.
Over the past two years, Cornell has faced a tense political environment, from a Spring 2024 Arts Quad encampment organized by the Coalition for Mutual Liberation that urged the University to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and to divest from companies supporting the war to the Fall 2025 “Take Back Our University” rally that protested against the war in Gaza, climate change and for the rights of students.
The University’s administration has hosted events aimed at fostering “wide-ranging conversation”, including last year’s Pathways to Peace event, where former U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel B. Shapiro, former Israeli Vice Prime Minister Tzipi Livni and former Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority Salam Fayyad were invited to speak to the Cornell community. The Cornell University Police Department detained 17 pro-Palestine students protesting the event.
Loewen said that the point of the course is to learn how to “handle challenge and tense debate.”
“As scholars, we do this every day defending our research and scholarship, and we have literally centuries of accumulated knowledge from politics, theory and literature from Graeco-Roman antiquity to bring to bear on these modern issues,” Loewen said.
Some of the questions and topics students debate include: whether students should be required to read Shakespeare, how to dictate family size, if capitalism is good and how to set the speed limits, Loewen wrote.
At the time of publication, there are 132 students enrolled in the one credit course. Loewen said he is excited to see students from a diverse range of majors and backgrounds share their opinions.
“Given the cross-disciplinary nature of this subject, Arts & Sciences is the perfect home for this kind of course that’s open to all undergraduate students,” Loewen wrote to The Sun.
For Kate Irwin ’26, she said GOVT 1109 will help disprove the false information she encounters online. She said she hopes that the course will offer her more knowledge of the contentious topics explored in class.
“In this day and age, with so much misinformation, … academics who are so knowledgeable have the truths that are often lost on social media.”
Referencing the opportunity to learn from Loewen, Whaley added that he was excited to experience a class taught by a University administrator.
“This is a really cool experience to have,” Whaley said. “It’s not often that you get to take a class from the dean of the College.”
In addition to Loewen, the class will be taught by Davide Napoli, ancient Athenian debate expert and Klarman postdoctoral fellow in CAS, as well as a team of professors from across the college. Scholars from outside Cornell will join the conversations too, including Ross Douthat, New York Times opinion writer, and professors from the National University of Singapore, Stony Brook University, Vanderbilt University and George Mason University.
Prof. Tara Holm, mathematics, is a course assistant for the class. She said, in an email statement to The Sun, that while she expects students in the class to disagree on topics, she hopes that they can navigate conversations with maturity and a commitment to embracing perspectives different from their own.
“The big questions raised in this course don't have correct answers and it is essential to listen with curiosity, dig into the nuance, and be comfortable with not agreeing on all points,” Holm wrote.
She explained that disagreement is an “essential part” of her life and that she hopes she learns from the students in her section as they “take away” from the main lecture.
Harry Whaley ’29, a student in the class, said he decided to enroll in the course because he believes the Cornell community needs to be willing to share differing opinions in light of the current political moment.
“When people have informed conversations … they tend to agree on more than I think is initially expected,” Whaley said.
Addison Heffernan ’29 explained that he was thinking about the worsening trend of political division and believed that this course is a rare chance to find middle ground.
“The polarization is getting a lot worse,” Heffernan said. “You see it with the current administration where they are trying to exercise a lot of power, and you see a counter reaction from the other side. A course like this allows us to come together.”
James Covit is a member of the Class of 2029 in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is a contributor for the News department and can be reached at jc3684@cornell.edu.
