Well-publicized incidents of speakers being disinvited or shouted down on college campuses, “watch lists” that single out professors at ideological variance from the lists’ creators, and general education classes that many students cannot imagine have real world utility are among the many things that have led some to declare a “crisis” in higher education. The..
Colleges have a responsibility to create environments where curious students can explore and grow. Heterodox Academy has guided this effort by drawing attention to the need for increasing open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement in academia. Now it’s up to us to do the work. In 2017 I worked with a small group of..
The United States has seen great increases in how many of us take part in higher education. The percent of Americans who’ve completed four years or more of college has grown nearly sevenfold just since 1940. Illiteracy rates have plummeted. We have even seen consistent growth in Americans’ average IQ, the so-called “Flynn Effect” from..
Over the past two years, I have had the good fortune of participating in three great books courses. The first two were at Columbia: one was a survey of Western literature, the other a survey of Western philosophy. The third was hosted by the Hertog Foundation, a right-leaning philanthropic organization, and it focused primarily on..
Since news went round that my institution, Portland State University, had denied my course on conservatism a place in the course catalog, I have been asked by many colleagues for a copy of the syllabus. Some are curious about how it could have fallen afoul of the requirement that all new courses advance diversity. In..
In today’s hyper-partisan world, it’s a small comfort to know that Democrats and Republicans at least agree about their disagreements. In a recent survey, 81% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents and 76% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents said Republican and Democratic voters cannot agree on basic facts of issues. Their viewpoint was validated by a..
Research shows that intellectual curiosity and openness to ideas are important for academic success. These traits are also relevant for heterodoxy—that is, the more curious people are, the more they will be appreciative of different viewpoints. Studies show that curiosity (but not knowledge) predicts bipartisan attitude convergence about environmental threats such as climate change. Thus,..
Add language to your syllabi that makes clear open inquiry and constructive disagreement are expected. Help set the tone in your class by using the syllabus to communicate the value you place on open inquiry and constructive disagreement. A post on our blog from last January offers some suggestions; the comments on that post provide..
Free Intelligent Conversation (FreeIC) is a nonprofit organization that facilitates engaging conversations between strangers. It’s simple: participants simply go to public places and hold up signs that read “Free Intelligent Conversation,” inviting people to talk with them about anything and everything. The conversations are then kicked-off using FreeIC Conversation Cards, each containing open-ended questions that..
Like many faculty members, there are times in class when I joyfully watch students actively engage in constructive disagreement. Unfortunately, they do not happen enough. Too many students avoid openly challenging their peers on controversial topics. The old adage, “go along to get along” rules their classroom interactions. This inclination towards avoidance often infects my..
In his oft-quoted 1953 essay, Isaiah Berlin draws upon a reference to the Greek philosopher Archilochus, translated as: a fox knows many things, but a hedgehog one big thing. Although the original essay was primarily focused on Tolstoy (who Berlin classified as a tortured combination of fox and hedgehog), it’s been used in several other..
The challenge remains, however, in making sure that these events and initiatives are not just about the administration making a statement about free speech or faculty endorsing those ideals. Students need to be a high priority, which means having all constituencies working together.
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