In an effort to build community and bring thought-provoking conversations to members all over the world, we’re excited to launch our Virtual Book Club in March 2020. 

Involvement in the book club is open exclusively to HxA members, who have the chance to vote on which book they wanted to select. The winner for this inaugural Virtual Book Club meeting was Safe Enough Spaces, by Michael Roth. The book delves into the issues facing higher education today — including political correctness and free speech — from the perspective of a college president. 

Attendees read the book and submitted questions in advance, and came together in an online video meeting for the discussion. Our first Virtual Book Club meeting was led by our Executive Director, Debra Mashek, on Friday, March 27.

Virtual Book Club meetings are intentionally capped at a small size to promote an environment where all members in attendance can comfortably speak their minds and analyze, question, and discuss the book at hand with fellow open-minded scholars. Members RSVP via email on a first come, first serve basis. Our hope is that this is just the first of many Virtual Book Club meetings and that they will serve as springboards for continued conversation and community-building. Following each discussion, HxA will publish book discussion guides on our website to be accessible to all for future use. 

Members: information on this and future book clubs will be sent via the weekly Bulletin, along with a link to join the discussion. Email events@heterodoxacademy.org to learn more and ensure your contact info is up to date. 

Not a member and wondering how you can have enriching discussions about the state of the academy with fellow students, educators, administrators, and curious minds around the world? Learn more here.