On April 5th two scholars came together at the Mary Irwin Theater in Kelowna, British Columbia to discuss whether ‘DEI has lost its way’ as part of HxA’s new Heterodox Conversations series. Over 200 people were in attendance to listen, discuss, and learn.

Heterodox Conversations, a new initiative from the HxA Campus Community Network, are campus events that pair two scholarly experts who disagree on a topic in a public discussion of that topic. Not a traditional lecture or debate, these events showcase the power of academic dialogue.

The first Heterodox Conversation was hosted by the Campus Community at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan, co-chaired by Brad Epperly, Associate Professor of Political Science, and Renaud-Philippe Garner, Assistant Professor of Philosophy.

“I'm sure people will learn things they did not expect. I think that's one of the great things about these events is when you have a good exchange like this with proper experts who are being intellectually honest and charitable and thorough, is that it's very hard to come out with all your expectations confirmed. Very often you learn something counterintuitive or something surprising,” Garner was quoted saying before the event.

Scholars Paolo Gaudiano, Chief Scientist of Aleria, President of ARC, Adjunct Associate Professor at the NYU Stern School of Business, and Chairman of the annual Diversity & Inclusion Research Conference, and Azim Shariff Professor and Canada 150 Research Chair at University of British Columbia tackled the issue from the perspective of both professional and academic landscapes.

"This dialogue between Paolo and Azim models the value of respectful and constructive disagreement in the shared pursuit of truth and knowledge," said Bethany Boucher, Campus Engagement Manager for Heterodox Academy. "We extend our heartfelt appreciation to the speakers for deepening our understanding of these issues, and to everyone who contributed to the conversation."

What makes the Heterodox Conversations events unique is not only that they pair speakers with divergent views on a topic to present their research, but they also allow the speakers time to have a public discussion with one another, followed by audience questions. Audience members leave with a new understanding of the topic of the day, and more importantly a new appreciation of what scholarly conversation sounds like – and how open inquiry, critical thinking, fair mindedness, and constructive disagreement can help us answer questions and solve problems.

There are three more Heterodox Conversations events scheduled in the next month, hosted by HxA Campus Communities across Canada.