“Confronting Hegemonic Ideas Speaker Series”
Robinder Bedi, Associate Professor, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education, University of British Columbia | HxCanada and HxPsychology

HxA member Robinder Bedi has used HxA funding to create a speaker series in the Counselling Psychology Program Area at the University of British Columbia designed to counter the growing reluctance to openly discuss controversial topics or admit willingness to learn about unpopular viewpoints. True to the title of the speaker’s series (Confronting Hegemonic Ideas), by definition, each speaker provides a heterodox perspective relevant to the field of counselling psychology, and should also be of interest to some members of the HxPsychology and HxCanada Communities. More specifically, the project sets out to:

• Increase awareness of heterodox viewpoints and inconvenient facts/findings that do not conform to hegemonic narratives and dominant perspectives in counseling psychology, in order to promote critical thinking.

• Model (by professors) intellectual humility and respectful engagement with speakers who present controversial/unconventional perspectives.

• Create changes in academic culture and traditions consistent with the values of Heterodox Academy that result in (a) the enhancement of rigor for scholarship and (b) an improvement in the ability of trainee counselors/psychologists to serve those who differ from them, including with respect to political and ideological diversity.

Websites: Robinder Bedi | Dr. Bedi’s RTS Lab

Facebook: Dr. Bedi’s RTS Lab

LinkedIn: Dr. Bedi’s RTS Lab

Google Scholar: Robinder P. Bedi

YouTube: Dr. Bedi’s RTS Lab

“We Talk Civil Discourse Initiative”
Jeffrey Breneman, Vice President for Government Relations, Western Michigan University | HxHigher Ed Leadership

Jeffrey Breneman, a member of the HxHigher Ed Leadership Community and Vice President for Government Relations at Western Michigan University, is using a Flexible Funding Opportunity grant to engage campus and the Kalamazoo regional community in interactive, educational opportunities that promote civil discourse, viewpoint diversity, and free speech rights and responsibilities through the We Talk initiative he and others founded in late 2019. More than 1,000 campus and community members have participated in this grassroots movement, which is committed to the idea that free speech and social justice can be reconciled and has the support of WMU students, faculty, staff, and campus and community leaders. 

We Talk programming is designed to shape a vision of what people can achieve by actively engaging with others with diverse backgrounds, interests, and viewpoints through learning/engagement opportunities, resources, and tools. Activities include a 2-day campus/community visit by a nationally recognized author in fall and spring semesters, monthly free speech cafés featuring campus and community panelists, and a conversational exercise that promotes connection and compassion—Moving Conversations @ WMU. Most events are recorded by student videographers, which are published on YouTube and promoted as resources available to campus and the public to support learning in the classroom, workplace and at home. 

Instagram: @wetalkwmu

UPDATE: “Heterodoxy in Canada”
Martin Drapeau, Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, McGill University | HxCanada Community

In November we shared information about the “Heterodoxy in Canada” project led by Martin Drapeau. We are pleased to share the following update from Drapeau about a recent initiative in Quebec related to his team’s activities:

A bold move to protect academic freedom in Quebec universities

​​In March 2021, the government of Quebec launched the Independent Scientific and Technical Commission on the Recognition of Academic Freedom in Universities following reports of censorship in some universities.

In their final report, which was submitted this past December, the Commission recommended that the Government introduce formal legislation defining academic freedom and forcing universities to promote and defend it. This legislation would also require that universities establish internal committees to defend academic freedom and to hear complaints about breaches to this law, and to report on such breaches to the Government. In addition to this, the Commission issued five statements. First, classrooms are not safe spaces, as all ideas and topics without exception can be debated in a rational and argued way within a university; there is also no such thing as a right “not to be offended”. Second, the use of trigger warnings is entirely up to the professor and should never be imposed by university leadership. Third, universities should have clear policies to avoid online mobbing. Fourth, universities should actively defend the academic freedom of professors, including in court if needed. And fifth, a university should exercise a certain reserve when taking position in a debate, so that the academics from that institution have freedom to express their point of view.

These recommendations were only recently submitted and have not yet been implemented by the Government. In order to inform the debate about academic freedom and the need for legislation, our research team, thanks to funding received from Heterodox Academy, is conducting a series of surveys of Canadian academics and Canadian students on campus climate. We are also conducting scoping reviews to determine what psychological variables are related to open mindedness and intellectual curiosity, with the hope that we could eventually design programs to foster these qualities in university students. Our findings will be presented at a conference that we are organising and that will be held in April.