In response to growing tensions surrounding classroom discussions, Tasha Souza, former vice provost for faculty success, visited the University of Pittsburgh to equip professors and faculty on how to safely and effectively discuss controversial topics with students.
The event on Friday, Oct. 2, 2025, at Alumni Hall, aimed to address growing concerns sparked by a series of national incidents where faculty members faced intense backlash both inside and outside their classrooms. These events include the recent firing of Texas A&M Professor Melissa McCoul and the dismissal or suspension of professors for comments involving the recent killing of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
Souza, a current part-time professor of communications at Sacramento State University, designed the workshop hosted by the School of Social Work and the Center for Teaching and Learning to provide faculty with practical strategies for leading safe and productive conversations about divisive topics in the classroom.
According to Souza, diverse opinions are a key component of a democratic society.
“Democracy is doomed if we don’t have dialogue and difference,” Souza said to the attendees
The three-hour event, titled “Eruptions & Transformations: Navigating Hot Moments & Difficult Dialogues In Our Courses,” engaged participants in open discussion on past experiences and roleplay responding to classroom challenges, which Souza said she has experienced firsthand.
Souza outlined several strategies for fostering productive communication with students. One method, called OTFD or Open The Front Door to communications, asks faculty who observe challenging moments to use the acronym OTFD to guide communication. Observers should first state their observation, what they think the observation originated from, their feelings in response and what behaviors they desire in the future.
For faculty who were unable to attend the event, Souza recommended they learn these strategies for use in their own classrooms.
“I’d recommend looking at the literature on how to ensure that you can create a supportive communication climate, because that’s really important,” Souza said.
From Souza’s perspective, trust is an important component within the classroom to foster communication.
“Students need to feel like there’s some trust and community in order to kind of have those conversations and not feel so reactive in those conversations,” Souza said.
After difficult dialogue in the classroom, Souza recommended techniques to assess student emotions and feelings, such as metacommunication or anonymous polls students can take.
Souza hosts workshops with students to help develop effective communication skills in the classroom.
“I think the more opportunities we have to learn to engage in dialogue, especially across differences, the better off we’re going to be as a society,” Souza said.