Bridging Minds: What Curiosity Can Make Possible

September 25, 2026

Some of the most important conversations begin when we recognize that we may not understand someone else as well as we think we do.

That idea is central to Bridging Minds, a conversation series shaped by my work as a clinical psychologist and my interest in mentalization. At its core, mentalization asks us to stay curious about what another person may be thinking or feeling rather than assume we already know.

Today, I had the chance to explore that idea with Rutgers alumnus and global conservation leader Peter Seligmann during a Bridging Minds conversation at the Livingston Student Center on our Rutgers–New Brunswick campus. Peter co-founded Conservation International and later helped found Nia Tero, which works with Indigenous Peoples to support the stewardship of their territories. Across decades of work, he has brought together communities, governments, businesses, and others who often begin with very different priorities.

Listening before assuming

Our conversation took place during Rutgers Climate Week, when students, faculty, and staff across the university are bringing different perspectives to questions of climate and its impact on our communities. What stayed with me most was that Peter’s story was never only about conservation. It was about people.

He described a point in his career when he realized that protecting nature could not be separated from human well-being. Lasting progress depended on understanding the people connected to the places he hoped to protect, not simply arriving with an answer.

That came through clearly when we talked about Nia Tero. Peter described the importance of going into a community ready to listen and learn, rather than assuming you already know what is needed.

He explained how real listening asks more of us than we sometimes realize. It means setting aside the response we may already be forming and paying closer attention to what someone is trying to tell us.

For leaders, it means knowing when expertise should guide us and when humility should prompt another question. For faculty and researchers, it means remaining open to what another discipline or lived experience can reveal. For staff, it means understanding the people and communities our work is meant to serve. And for students, it means learning how to engage thoughtfully with people and ideas that may challenge what they already believe.

Peter shared a memorable example from his work with a large corporation. He described bringing environmental leaders and corporate executives together and asking them to start by talking about something they had in common: their children.

The disagreement did not disappear. But they had a place to begin.

A challenge for higher education

That lesson is particularly relevant to universities. Higher education brings together people from different disciplines, generations, backgrounds, experiences, and ways of seeing the world. Our responsibility is not simply to develop expertise. We also have a responsibility to help people use that knowledge thoughtfully, work across differences, and understand how what they learn connects to others' lives.

Peter challenged Rutgers to think intentionally about that role. He talked about looking beyond academic silos, exposing students to different ways of understanding the world, and creating space for questions of citizenship, communication, and responsibility alongside disciplinary learning.

Those ideas connect closely to the work already underway through our Academic Master Plan. We want students to learn across disciplines, take part in research and other high-impact experiences, encounter perspectives beyond their own, and see how their education can contribute to the public good.

They also come at a moment of real momentum for Rutgers–New Brunswick. Earlier this week, Rutgers–New Brunswick reached No. 14 among public universities in the U.S. News & World Report rankings, our strongest showing yet. We also placed third in the Big Ten for social mobility, reflecting our continued focus on access, opportunity, and helping students succeed through graduation.

Rankings are one way to measure progress. What matters more is the work behind them: students finding opportunities to succeed, faculty opening new possibilities through their teaching and research, and staff helping make that progress possible every day.

Preparing students for what comes next

Peter and I also talked about younger generations and the anxiety many feel about the future. He kept returning to resilience: having the grit to keep going, being willing to learn from failure, and making room for younger people to lead.

That resonated with me. Student success is not only about reaching graduation. It is also about preparing students to navigate uncertainty, recover from setbacks, work with people who see the world differently, and understand the impact they can have on the communities around them.

That is work shared by all of us across Rutgers: students, faculty, staff, alumni, and the many partners and communities connected to this university.

Seeing through more than one lens

Near the end of our conversation, I asked Peter what he hoped future generations would say about the choices we are making now.

His answer brought us back to something larger: whether we can recognize the value of the natural world while also understanding our responsibility to care for it and for one another.
I keep coming back to that.

Whether we are addressing climate change, teaching and supporting students, leading an institution, or simply trying to understand someone whose experience is different from our own, we do not have to agree to stay curious. We must be willing to consider that there may be more for us to understand.

That is what I hope Bridging Minds can offer: conversations that encourage us to question our assumptions, learn from one another, and approach complex problems through multiple lenses.

As the series continues, we’ll share Bridging Minds conversations, including this one with Peter, on the Chancellor Communications page. I hope you’ll spend some time with them and continue the conversation with us.

For those interested in exploring climate work across Rutgers, I also encourage you to stay connected with the Rutgers Climate and Energy Institute and the Rutgers Office of Climate Action.

Francine Conway 
Chancellor 
Rutgers University–New Brunswick