Disagreeing Well news

Our latest Disagreeing Well event, 'Is politics corrupting religion?', showed just how powerful thoughtful disagreement can be.

Writing for The Hindu, UCL President & Provost Dr Michael Spence makes the case for disagreement as something to engage with productively, helping prepare individuals to participate thoughtfully in a world defined by difference, complexity and rapid change.

Solomiia Vavryshchuk, Second-Year Bachelor of Laws Student, UCL Faculty of Laws shares her reflections of attending the UCL Disagreeing Well event: What does reckoning with the British imperial past involve in 2026?

Writing for Wonkhe, Dr Thomas Gift and Dr Julie Norman (UCL Political Science) describe why they taught a course on how to engage in difficult disagreements civilly and confidently.

Think dissent is a workplace "red flag"? Think again, argues Independent deputy comment editor Paul Clements, in a piece featuring Dr Sunny Lee (UCL School of Management), published as part of a partnership between the Independent and UCL's Disagreeing Well programme.

Writing for The Independent, UCL student Lloyd Chan highlights a lack of open debate among students and explains how 'Disagreeing Well' aims to restore respectful discussion between opposing views.

The Disagreeing Well programme has pilot funding available for this academic year to support research and education initiatives that will complement the existing public facing Disagreeing Well campaign activities and contribute to the overall aims of the programme.

Writing in Times Higher Education, UCL President & Provost Dr Michael Spence, argues that Sinophobia undermines the UK’s interests, emphasising the immense contributions Chinese students, staff and collaborators make to British society and higher education.

UCL President & Provost, Dr Michael Spence, writes about the need for universities to engage with their local communities and to serve society locally and nationally while listening to diverse views, in a column for The Conversation.

UCL President & Provost Dr Michael Spence took part in a thought-provoking panel at the QS Reimagine Education Conference 2025, exploring the importance of ‘Disagreeing Well’.

How do we have better conversations in an age of division? Our new episodes explore some of today’s contested questions by bringing people together who disagree, and showing what happens when we truly listen.

UCL President & Provost Dr Michael Spence writes about how teaching people how to disagree well is necessary for solving societal problems, as polarisation grows and trust in institutions declines, for the World Economic Forum.

From 1 August 2025, new legal duties come into effect for universities under the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023. To ensure compliance with these duties, we have reviewed and updated UCL’s Code of Practice on Freedom of Speech.

Harshitha Shankara (post-graduate student MSc in Project and Enterprise Management, Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, UCL) shares her reflections of attending the UCL Disagreeing Well event: Reporting Conflict.

Hetvi Rutvikbhai Bhatt, postgraduate clinical neuroscience student, shares her reflections of attending the UCL Disagreeing Well event: Reporting Conflict.