heterodox: the blog
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+ Essay (Opinion Piece)The Two Fiduciary Duties of Professors
Is the concept of fiduciary duty useful in the academy? To what must professors show such absolute loyalty, such elevated ethics, with no deviations or compromises?read the full blog
+ HxAFive Years of Challenging Orthodoxies: Reflections on Challenges and Opportunities Ahead
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+ HxASuggested Readings on Racism and Reform, From Members of the HxA Advisory Council
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+ HxA2017 End of Year Letter
Dear Members and Friends of HxA: 2017 was another astonishing year for those who care about universities, and another extraordinary year for Heterodox Academy. First, the universities. This year we saw an increase in intimidation tactics, uncivil…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryRichard Shweder on the End of the Modern Academy
This post is the first in our "Essential Reading" series. These posts make it possible for readers to get the basic idea of a major work quickly. Here is the first such essay: Richard A. Shweder (2017). The End of the Modern Academy: At the…read the full blog
+ Essay (Opinion Piece)Amy Wax’s Defense of Bourgeois Values
Since 2015 we’ve seen an increase in petitions and movements to denounce professors. Typically a professor says or writes something, then a group of students protests. The students demand that the professor be censured or renounced by the…read the full blog
+ Essay (Opinion Piece)The Implications of Charlottesville
Like everyone else, I’ve been thinking a lot about the events in Charlottesville last week, and President Trump’s comments about those events. I taught at UVA for 16 years and I lived a few blocks East of Emancipation Park (back when it was…read the full blog
+ Essay (Opinion Piece)Professors Must Now Fear Intimidation From Both Sides
The string of recent cases in which professors have been fired, sanctioned, or placed on leave by their universities in response to public outrage generated by right-wing media sites is an alarming turn of events for the academy and for the…read the full blog
+ Essay (Opinion Piece)The Blasphemy Case Against Bret Weinstein, and Its Four Lessons for Professors
In the wake of the violence at Middlebury and Berkeley, and in the aftermath of the faculty mob that coalesced to condemn gender studies professor Rebecca Tuvel, many commentators have begun analyzing the new campus culture of intersectionality as a…read the full blog
+ Essay (Opinion Piece)On Rebecca Tuvel: Consequences of Orthodoxies in Academia
As polarization has increased in recent years, political clashes within the academy have tended to play out along predictable lines, with progressive students and professors challenging the views of their conservative and moderate peers. However, the…read the full blog
+ Essay (Opinion Piece)Van Jones’ Excellent Metaphors About the Dangers of Ideological Safety
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+ Essay (Opinion Piece)Why progressive professors should join Heterodox Academy, especially now
...But if you are a progressive professor who wants to strengthen the left in the long run, raise the credibility and federal funding of universities during a time of Republican dominance, and improve the reliability of the social science research…read the full blog
+ Essay (Opinion Piece)Why Universities Must Choose One Telos: Truth or Social Justice
The most obvious answer is “truth” –- the word appears on so many university crests. But increasingly, many of America’s top universities are embracing social justice as their telos, or as a second and equal telos. But can any institution or…read the full blog
+ Essay (Opinion Piece)Back to School Video Playlist
Are you about to start college? Or will you be applying to college this winter? Do you want to get the most out of your college experience and emerge smarter, emotionally stronger, and more self-sufficient when you graduate? Then be sure to watch…read the full blog
+ Essay (Opinion Piece)Why the centre cannot hold in America, Europe, and psychology
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+ Essay (Opinion Piece)The amazing 1969 prophecy that racial preferences would cause the exact grievances of protesters…
Universities are among the most progressive and anti-racist institutions in American society. Many Americans therefore found it confusing to see dozens of our top universities racked by racial protests since last September. To add to the puzzle, many…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryNew Study Indicates Existence of Eight Conservative Social Psychologists
Just how much viewpoint diversity do we have in social psychology? In 2011 nobody knew, so I asked 30 of my friends in the field to name a conservative. They came up with several names, but only one suspect admitted, under gentle interrogation, to…read the full blog
+ Essay (Opinion Piece)The Backstory of the AEI-Brookings Poverty Report
A working group of policy experts from left and right just released a major report on how America can best reduce poverty and increase opportunity. Here’s the back story of how the unusual collaboration began, and what lessons might help other…read the full blog
+ Essay (Opinion Piece)The Yale Problem Begins in High School
The Yale problem refers to an unfortunate feedback loop: Once you allow victimhood culture to spread on your campus, you can expect ever more anger from students representing victim groups, coupled with demands for a deeper institutional commitment…read the full blog
+ Essay (Opinion Piece)President Obama Endorses Heterodox Academy
President Obama strongly endorsed HeterodoxAcademy last week. OK, he didn't mention our site specifically, but he endorsed our mission explicitly.... "there was this space where you could interact with people who didn’t agree with you and had…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryIt’s finally out—The big review paper on the lack of political diversity in social psychology
Heterodox Academy has its origins in a collaborative effort by five social psychologists (Jose Duarte, Jarret Crawford, Lee Jussim, Phil Tetlock and me) and a sociologist (Charlotta Stern) to study a problem that has long been noted in psychology:…read the full blog
+ HxAWelcome to Heterodox Academy
Welcome to our site. We are professors who want to improve our academic disciplines. Many of us have written about a particular problem: the loss or lack of “viewpoint diversity.” It’s what happens when the great majority of people in a field…read the full blog
About heterodox: the blog
As an organization that prizes pluralism and disagreement — with 5000+ members holding diverse views on most issues — Heterodox Academy almost never takes positions as an organization on current events and controversies. Opinions expressed here are those of the author(s). Publication does not imply endorsement by Heterodox Academy or any of its members. We encourage readers to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn — and to join in the conversation on those forums — to weigh in on this or other posts.
Heterodox: the blog is a platform for academics, researchers, professors, and students to share the challenges they face within their academic communities through both analysis and actionable solutions. We aspire to have every reader walk away with a richer understanding of the challenges of the university environment, as well as practical tools and techniques for addressing them. Interested in contributing? Please see our submission guidelines.
