{"id":1599,"date":"2019-03-27T10:41:35","date_gmt":"2019-03-27T14:41:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/?page_id=1599"},"modified":"2026-08-20T12:30:57","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T16:30:57","slug":"commonality-across-difference","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/program-goals-and-values\/commonality-across-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"The Learning Environment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Our classes are discussion-driven, with students speaking much more than the professor. The diversity of interests and approaches among the Scholars provides a rich collaborative learning environment. The study of law and policy often involves uncomfortable, challenging, and\/or controversial topics that we do not shy away from. We do not agree on every topic, but we practice listening with curiosity and comfort with discomfort, always affirming each other&#8217;s humanity and ensuring all are heard and valued. Our classes are non-judgmental spaces where students are encouraged to put forth their ideas even if they do not feel fully formed. In addition to discussion, students engage in a variety of practical exercises during class time, from legislative analysis to policy development exercises to power-mapping and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" data-attachment-id=\"2981\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/program-goals-and-values\/commonality-across-difference\/img_3412_original\/#main\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_3412_Original-scaled.jpeg\" data-orig-size=\"1920,2560\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;1.8&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;iPhone SE (2nd generation)&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1749584206&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;3.99&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;64&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0083333333333333&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"IMG_3412_Original\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_3412_Original-225x300.jpeg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_3412_Original-768x1024.jpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_3412_Original-768x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2981\" style=\"width:579px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_3412_Original-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_3412_Original-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_3412_Original-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_3412_Original-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_3412_Original-scaled.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our classes are discussion-driven, with students speaking much more than the professor. The diversity of interests and approaches among the Scholars provides a rich collaborative learning environment. The study of law and policy often involves uncomfortable, challenging, and\/or controversial topics that we do not shy away from. We do not agree on every topic, but we practice listening with curiosity and comfort with discomfort, always affirming each other&#8217;s humanity and ensuring all are heard and valued. Our classes are non-judgmental &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"The Learning Environment\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/program-goals-and-values\/commonality-across-difference\/#more-1599\" aria-label=\"Read more about The Learning Environment\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":31,"menu_order":9,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"coauthors":[2],"class_list":{"0":"post-1599","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"infinite-scroll-item"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\r\n<title>The Learning Environment - Law &amp; Public Policy Program<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/lppp\/program-goals-and-values\/commonality-across-difference\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Learning Environment - Law &amp; Public Policy Program\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Our classes are discussion-driven, with students speaking much more than the professor. The diversity of interests and approaches among the Scholars provides a rich collaborative learning environment. The study of law and policy often involves uncomfortable, challenging, and\/or controversial topics that we do not shy away from. We do not agree on every topic, but we practice listening with curiosity and comfort with discomfort, always affirming each other&#8217;s humanity and ensuring all are heard and valued. Our classes are non-judgmental ... 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