What is a Public Faculty?

Developed by Dutch artist Jeanne Van Heeswijk, Public Faculties engage local communities in a process of collective learning through the exchange of knowledge and deep listening. From van Heeswijk’s work on Public Faculty, “it is a method of practicing public conversations and ways of relating. The purpose is to learn how to listen to people describe their daily conditions. It is a practice of determining how an existing conflict can be made productive by speaking and thinking together. During these hours, facilitators stand at locations where they can speak with passersby about the issues at hand.”