Protecting Open Inquiry on Our Campuses
Heterodox Academy (HxA) is the leading membership organization for faculty, staff, and students who want to ensure that our universities are places where intellectual curiosity thrives.
Our thousands of members organize on their campus and within their disciplines to create cultures where intellectual curiosity thrives.
We develop model policies that protect open inquiry across higher education.
The Segal Center for Academic Pluralism produces resources to guide academic norms and policies.
Defending the University as Gardens for Curiosity
President John Tomasi speaks with HxA co-founder Jon Haidt about the next era of Heterodox Academy. “I want to give our members something that they can bring to their campuses that will make them proud to be part of HxA. Where ideas are being pursued seriously, intensely, bravely, and with humility, together.”
Heterodox Academy’s mission is to advance open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement across higher education – the foundations of our universities as truth-seeking, knowledge-generating institutions. HxA empowers members to organize on their campus and within their disciplines, educates academics on the importance of our principles, and advocates for policies to protect open inquiry across higher education.
Our commitment to open inquiry within the academy is a response to the rise of closed-minded orthodoxies within scholarly communities that stifle rigorous, truth-seeking investigation of complex questions and issues.
Our vision is an academy in which a vibrant community of inquirers investigate a broad range of questions about the world by bringing diverse perspectives to bear, thereby enlivening the pursuit of truth, knowledge, and progress.
Heterodox Academy was founded in 2015 by Jonathan Haidt, Chris Martin, and Nicholas Rosenkranz, in reaction to their observations about the negative impact a lack of ideological diversity has had on the quality of research within their disciplines. What began as a conversation among social researchers about the challenges facing their disciplines and institutions, grew into a community of thousands of faculty, staff, and students.
Today, our membership extends from large research universities to community colleges in the US, Canada, and around the world, and represent nearly every academic discipline. HxA members are dedicated to advancing the principles of open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement as cornerstones of academic and intellectual life.
Our members represent the full political spectrum, more than 1,800 institutions world-wide, and nearly every academic discipline.
Meet Smriti Mehta, Postdoctoral Scholar at UC Berkeley
Mehta sat down with HxA to discuss threats to open inquiry in the
academy, noting that many of the threats to open inquiry in the academy
originate from the discipline of psychology. Mehta and her colleague
decided to start an HxA Campus Community at Berkeley to push back
against pressures that prevent people from speaking out on policies that
limit academic freedom.
Meet Mary Kate Cary, Adjunct Professor at UVA
Cary sat down with HxA to discuss her work on UVA's campus to teach students how to speak up in class - and disagree with their professors. She is the founding director of Think Again at UVA which helps students thrive through such events as Disagree with a Professor, Free Speech Fridays, Braver Angels Debates, and the annual UVA Student Oratory Contest. Mary Kate Cary is also the recipient of the 2024 HxA Open Inquiry Award for Leadership.
Open Inquiry
Open inquiry is the ability to ask questions, share ideas, and challenge existing orthodoxy without risk of censure. In an environment that is sufficiently open, people can explore facts, opinions, and beliefs; discover and create important innovations; solve problems; and flourish intellectually.
Viewpoint Diversity
Viewpoint diversity is when members of a group or community approach problems or questions from a range of perspectives, backgrounds, and personal experiences. When a community is marked by intellectual humility, empathy, trust, and curiosity, viewpoint diversity gives rise to engaged and respectful debate, constructive disagreement, and shared progress toward truth.
Constructive Disagreement
Constructive disagreement occurs when people who have different perspectives on an idea or issue are committed to collaboratively exploring and learning from one another. Rigorous, open, and responsible engagement across lines of difference is the foundation of healthy academic practice and is essential to make good ideas better.
Our team brings together academics, non-profit professionals, and curious minds to drive change within our universities.
We encourage our members to embody a set of norms and values in all of their professional interactions — and insist on them for anyone publishing on our platforms or participating in our events.
“I support open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement in research and education.”