In far too many of my classes, I see students shopping for a new outfit, playing an intense game of Catan or watching their favorite shows. Even if you are doing the readings and acing the homeworks, an essential part of attending Brown is contributing to an engaged classroom — whether that means getting into a heated argument in a seminar or providing occasional commentary in a 100-person lecture. The solution to our engagement crisis may be something students often dread: cold calling.
My first true experience with cold calling was in IAPA 1800D: “Introduction to Corporate Law and Public Policy” taught by Ari Gabinet P’19 P’MD’20, senior fellow at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs and pre-law advisor for the University. Gabinet teaches the class in a law school-esque manner, explicitly stating in the syllabus that cold calling will be an integral part of the course. The result? Riveting, intense discussions as we moved through the content during our weekly 19-person seminar. Each student rose to the occasion and came prepared to answer any question that might’ve been asked about the readings.
Beyond simply elevating the level of engagement, Gabinet’s cold calling also allowed for more open-ended debates. Many of the legal topics discussed in the class were up for interpretation — gray areas where a student’s application of the law is the focus of an answer. Since students had to answer questions on the fly, responses were often representative of the students’ genuine thought processes, allowing them to naturally work through questions that could only be answered by intuition.
The organic responses produced by myself and classmates is one of the most impactful results of cold calling. Rather than shying away from being incorrect, the class was forced to respond with genuine answers, unafraid of potentially having a different conclusion. Those who were hesitant to voluntarily speak up gladly participated by the end of the semester as class contribution became more about thought process than accuracy.
Beyond the small seminar format, larger lecture-based courses could also benefit from cold calling. Due to the significant size of these classes, many students may zone out or feel detached from the professor. Cold calling requires individuals to be attentive and creates a dialogue between students and professor beyond impersonal lecturing.
Though some may see cold calling as toxic, this is not the case when professors implement it responsibly. Many students like being pushed outside their comfort zone, but this doesn’t mean they need to be left out in the cold. Whether it’s on-call lists or organized small groups, professors can engage their class without targeting students. In “Introduction to Corporate Law and Public Policy,” for example, Gabinet offered a phone-a-friend policy. In the event that you did not know where to start your answer, you were allowed to call on a classmate for support. Policies like this can be used to make cold calling constructive and avoid creating a tense environment.
Brown prides itself on pushing students to be “intellectual risk-takers” but we could all use a little encouragement in embodying that characterization. More cold calling would do exactly that: offer students a push to become more comfortable with sharing their genuine thoughts, even if it’s not the right answer. I encourage all professors — particularly those with in depth conversations — to consider taking this step to allow their students to grow even more.
Batisse Manhardt ’26 can be reached at batisse_manhardt@brown.edu. Please send responses to this column to letters@browndailyherald.com and other columns to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
