About the Program
The Doyle Engaging Difference Program prepares Georgetown University students and faculty to address cultural, religious, and other forms of difference through learning opportunities inside and outside the classroom.
This university-wide program supports curricular and co-curricular engagement with difference, diversity, and expression through four key initiatives. The Doyle Global Dialogue provides students studying abroad with opportunities to reflect on their experiences with diverse host societies and share their insights with the Georgetown community. The Doyle Dialogue Fellows program prepares students to engage in and ultimately lead constructive conversations on critical issues on campus and beyond. The Doyle Program also supports the Learning, Equity, Access, and Pedagogy (LEAP) Initiative, promoting inclusive teaching practices across the university, as well as the In Your Shoes™ (IYS) initiative, offering dialogue modules and resources to help students and faculty build empathy and understanding through theatrical performance, storytelling, and deep listening.
Both students and faculty can also apply for the Doyle Grants and participate in Doyle Events to further engage in critical dialogue on diversity and difference in co-curricular spaces.
The program began in fall 2009 with a generous gift and accompanying vision from William J. Doyle (C'72, chair of the Georgetown University Board of Directors) to see the university deepen its Catholic and Jesuit commitment to diversity and dialogue. Now in its second decade, the Doyle Program continues to foster space for critical discussion and debate on intercultural and interreligious difference, enabling Hoyas to become engaged global citizens in an increasingly pluralistic world.
About the Benefactor
William J. Doyle is the former president and CEO of PotashCorp, which was the world’s largest fertilizer company until its purchase and merger in 2018. He served in that position from 1999 to 2014 and was a board member of the company since its IPO in 1989. All told, he spent 41 years in the agriculture industry. Since his retirement, he has been working with a private equity firm and sits on the boards of the Executives’ Club of Chicago and the Big Shoulders Fund. He is also a director of the Western Golf Association. Mr. Doyle is a 1972 graduate of Georgetown College and currently serves as chair of the Georgetown University Board of Directors.
Doyle Program Staff Contacts
The Doyle Program is jointly administered by the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs and the Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS) at Georgetown University.