Doyle Seminars

Doyle Seminars are small, upper-level classes that foster dialogue on diversity and difference through student research and co-curricular learning. Doyle Seminars focus on a range of topics addressing critical questions of national, social, cultural, religious, moral, and other forms of difference. The program provides funding for faculty to support learning inside and outside the classroom. Previous seminars have welcomed guest speakers and sponsored class outings around Washington, DC.

For Faculty

Doyle Seminars allow Georgetown faculty to deepen learning and dialogue on difference through faculty development, allocated funding, and teaching support. Learn more by exploring the sections on Program Features and Frequently Asked Questions below.

Faculty Development – All Doyle Seminar faculty participate in a faculty workshop designed to equip them with resources on inclusive pedagogy. The faculty workshop helps instructors to think of ways to draw in differing perspectives through experiential learning opportunities such as guest speakers and outside course outings. It also serves as a space for cross-disciplinary collaboration on teaching methods.

Allocated Funding – The Doyle Seminar program provides participating faculty with a grant of $2,000 for course enrichment activities. Past Doyle Seminar faculty applied the funds toward invited guests, outings to local museums or performances, and film screenings, among other activities.

Teaching Support – A Doyle Seminar Graduate Academic Assistant serves all courses and focuses on supporting student research projects. The Berkley Center Director of Student Programs also provides faculty consultations on course preparation and inclusive pedagogy as requested.

Who is eligible to participate in the Doyle Seminar program?

All Georgetown faculty, regardless of tenure or full-time teaching status, are eligible to participate in the Doyle Seminar program.

What disciplines or schools are best suited for a Doyle Seminar?

The Doyle Seminar program is open to all disciplines and schools at Georgetown University. Past seminars have taken place in a wide range of disciplines, from art and anthropology to theatre and theology.

How are faculty selected to participate in the program?

Applications for the program open in the semester prior to that when the course is offered. Faculty who teach a course that engages difference and addresses a diversity of perspectives are encouraged to apply.

Do you have to teach undergraduate students in order to participate?

No! Faculty teaching undergraduate or graduate courses are welcome to apply.

How many Doyle Seminars does the program sponsor each semester?

On average, there are 3 to 5 Doyle Seminars per semester.

For Students

Doyle Seminars allow Georgetown students to deepen learning and dialogue on difference through experiential learning, small class sizes, and research projects. Learn more about Doyle Seminars by exploring the sections on Program Features and Frequently Asked Questions below.

Experiential Learning – Doyle Seminar students benefit from different perspectives offered by guest speakers, outings to local museums or performances, film screenings, and other opportunities. Past students have participated in a wide range of activities, including a medieval music performance, a Chinese tea ceremony, and a trip to the U.S. Supreme Court to watch oral arguments.

Small Class Sizes – All Doyle Seminars are capped at 15 students. The small class size and seminar format encourages close student-faculty collaboration and creates an inclusive space for students to engage in challenging conversations on diversity and difference.

Research Projects – Doyle Seminar students can more deeply explore how forms of difference interact to shape our world through a final research project. Students are given a unique opportunity to develop research skills, guided by faculty and a dedicated Doyle Seminar Graduate Academic Assistant.

Who is eligible to participate in a Doyle Seminar?

The Doyle Seminar program is open to all Georgetown University students. Specific courses in the program, however, may have prerequisites.

Do I have to apply for the Doyle Seminar program?

No! Students register for a Doyle Seminar as they would a regular course. All Doyle Seminars are tagged in MyAccess.

How do Doyle Seminars differ from traditional courses at the university?

Doyle Seminars differ from traditional courses by fostering dialogue on difference through student research and experiential learning. Courses in the program also benefit from additional student research support and funding for co-curricular activities.

Is the Doyle Seminar program only for undergraduate students?

No! Doyle Seminars take place across the university, including at Georgetown Law and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

See our current and past courses.

Testimonials

In many ways, my Doyle Seminar was the most fulfilling teaching experience of my career so far, as every class we ended up having such meaningful discussions and debates about immigration, refugees, displacement, xenophobia, and more. At another level, meeting the other Doyle instructors earlier in the semester was formative for my own teaching: I built connections with two professors working on the issue of migration in different fields, and even co-led a joint class excursion to a museum.
Evan Jewell

Race and Politics was by far one of my favorite courses I have taken at Georgetown...This Doyle Seminar actively made me reconstruct my notions of the world and, most importantly, catered to the love for learning I believe can get lost with high-stress tests and busy work.
Maya Silardi

Political psychology is inevitably influenced by the increasingly sharp divisions in the large world. Through Doyle support I was able to place greater emphasis on both the psychological foundations of these divisions and constructive solutions to resolving them. Doyle support also enabled the students to achieve more integrated and better developed research projects, through the additional constructive and critical feedback they received on their reports.
Fathali Moghaddam

To meet the goals of the Doyle Seminar, students in Policing in the Contemporary World were encouraged to formulate final research projects in a variety of forms that could be accessible to an audience outside the classroom. Some students produced conventional research papers, though other projects included a YouTube video, two podcasts, a website, and an art project.
Amrita Ibrahim

I think Professor Uelmen's Doyle Seminar has been so valuable in allowing us to really dig deep within our own reflection and then when we encounter things that we don’t necessarily agree with, learning how to interact with that and communicate with differing perspectives or values.
Alexander Afnan

News

A tent sits on a concrete sidewalk next to several garbage dumpsters

April 25, 2022

Doyle Seminar Helps Georgetown Students Learn About Homelessness in DC Through Journalism

Georgetown students learned a critical and empathetic approach to homelessness and expanded their journalism skills through the class Media and Social Justice, a Doyle Seminar taught by Ann Oldenburg, assistant director of the Journalism Program at Georgetown University, in fall 2021.

Healy Hall at Georgetown University with fall foliage

December 15, 2021

New Perspectives, Student Research Are Key to Doyle Seminar Experience

Students used gender as a prism for investigating Jewish cultural formation and tradition in late antiquity and the modern era as a part of Judaism and Gender, a Doyle Seminar taught by Julia Watts Belser in fall 2020.