Open Inquiry Awards

Exceptional Scholarship Award

For the academic who, through research or another form of scholarship, has best advanced knowledge of open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, or constructive disagreement.

Robert B. Talisse is the W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University. His research specializes in contemporary political philosophy, with particular interest in democratic theory and political epistemology. He is the author of over 100 scholarly articles and 12 books, in addition to authoring over 100 popular media articles.

Talisse is receiving the 2023 Exceptional Scholarship Award from Heterodox Academy for his impressive body of scholarly and popular work on topics central to the mission of Heterodox Academy. His work on effective argumentation is increasingly relevant on today’s polarized campuses and within our public squares. His work not only provides astute observations about the current climate but also offers invaluable solutions to decrease polarization and improve constructive discourse. Talisse is a role model of scholarly impact to advance knowledge of HxA principles both within the academy and within the public domain.

His colleagues note, “No philosopher’s work has been more valuable for teaching students the difference between virtuous and unvirtuous forms of argument, the nature of polarization and its pernicious effects on democracy, and how to engage productively with people with whom you deeply disagree.”

You can learn more about him here.

Leadership Award

For the person who has most effectively championed the principles of open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement in the academy and beyond.

Alexandra Lysova is an Associate Professor in the School of Criminology at Simon Fraser University (SFU). Her research career, spanning more than 20 years, focuses on intimate partner violence, including violence against men, women and children, having published over 70 scholarly articles.

Lysova is receiving the 2023 Leadership Award from Heterodox Academy for her persistent efforts of protecting academic freedom at SFU and beyond. Most notably, she spearheaded the SFU Academic Freedom Group with the mission of “promoting open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement in research and education,” which now boasts more than 50 SFU faculty and staff as members. She also led her campus in becoming part of Heterodox Academy’s Campus Community Network in 2023.

Lysova, with her colleagues, works tirelessly across ranks and departments on her campus to ensure academic freedom, inquiry, and constructive disagreement are core to the SFU campus climate, and are actively developing public programming to model constructive disagreement beyond campus. She has been described by her peers as a “fearless leader who inspires others to be brave about speaking openly and challenging the status quo.” She also was the recipient of the 2022 Sterling Prize in Support of Controversy.

Learn more about her here.

Courage Award

For the person who has demonstrated consistent courage in pursuing truth, and embodies bravery in championing the principles of open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement in the academy despite social and professional costs.

Beatriz Villarroel is an Assistant professor at the Nordic Institute of Theoretical Physics located within Stockholm University. Her research focuses on the structure and coevolution of active galactic nuclei and their host galaxies and searching for extraterrestrial intelligence. Most recently, she has started the EXOPROBE project that searches for fast flashes from extraterrestrial probes near the Earth. She’s also published 18 peer-reviewed articles in astronomy.

Villarroel is receiving the 2023 Courage Award from Heterodox Academy for her courage in the face of harassment and discrimination within her field for her choice to work with exoplanet pioneer Geoff Marcy. As a result of her collaboration with Marcy, she was barred from presenting results her research teams at a Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) conference in the United States, and was informed she could not continue her professional collaboration with him if working at a California research institution at which she was applying for an affiliate position.

As a recently appointed Assistant Professor, standing up for one’s freedom to conduct research with a leading scholar in the face of widespread pushback at such an early stage of one's career is impressive. “Rather than back down or choose to fly under the radar, Dr. Villarroel is bravely carrying on,” one nominator commended. Villarroel’s experiences showcase how guilt by association can be used to constrain research and professional opportunities, especially for women in STEM.

Learn more about her work and her story.

Teaching Award

For the educator who has most effectively integrated open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, or constructive disagreement into the classroom and/or curriculum.

Eric Silver is a Professor of Sociology and Criminology at Penn State University. His research focuses on morality, public opinion, crime, social control, criminal justice attitudes, racial attitudes, stigmatization, and patriotism. He has authored over 60 peer-reviewed articles, and is the co-author of the recent book, Why We Disagree about Inequality: Social Justice v. Social Order.

Silver is receiving the 2023 Teaching Award for the impactful course he teaches at Penn State, Knowing Right from Wrong. The course, which has grown from a 30-student enrollment to a 700+ student course in the four years since its development, is one of the largest morality courses currently being taught in the United States. His course does not shy away from polarizing and challenging topics such as suicide, prostitution, abortion, racism, sexism, necrophilia, the pandemic, immigration, affirmative action, and religion (to name a few); instead, he uses them to deepen students’ critical thinking skills and provide them with ample opportunity to practice constructive dialogue in the classroom.

The course has received exceptional ratings from students over the years, and typically has a waiting list of 50+ students each semester. Silver describes teaching this course as “one of the great joys of my professional life.”

You can learn more about him here.

Institutional Excellence Award

For the college, university, or center/institute operating as part of a college or university that has done the most to advance or sustain open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement either on its own campus or nationally.

University of North Carolina (UNC), Chapel Hill is the nation's first public university and one of the top ranked public universities in the US; and UNC Charlotte is North Carolina’s premier urban research university. Both universities are part of the UNC system and collectively enroll over 40,000 students annually.

UNC Chapel Hill and UNC Charlotte are jointly receiving the 2023 Institutional Excellence Award from Heterodox Academy for their myriad efforts and successes in promoting free expression on their campuses and serving as role models for other research institutions. Both institutions are also part of HxA’s Campus Community Network, which aims to showcase and model HxA values, and improve institutional policies, practices, and culture on their campus.

In recent years, UNC Chapel Hill has spearheaded campus-wide research to assess free expression and campus dialogue, which has since been implemented at eight institutions across the UNC system. The institution also launched the UNC Program for Public Discourse, a key institutional component of UNC’s efforts to showcase viewpoint diversity and constructive discourse. Importantly, UNC Chapel Hill has recently passed three resolutions to protect academic freedom and institutional neutrality (here, here, and here). And finally, UNC created the faculty Committee for Academic Freedom and Free Expression in 2023, among other accomplishments.

Led by the Free Expression & Constructive Dialogue Task Force, UNC Charlotte has launched a number of successful initiatives to become a leader in viewpoint diversity. In April 2023, the faculty overwhelmingly passed a free speech resolution based on the Chicago principles. The task force also created a Constructive Dialogue Faculty Learning Community to bring the tools of constructive dialogue into the classroom, in addition to creating a resource website for anyone on campus. And finally, the task force created the Charlotte Conversationalists, which is a new program that has trained 10 undergraduate students in the art of constructive dialogue and will support them to conduct student conversations in informal settings on campus, among other accomplishments.

Outstanding Student Group Award

Given to the student group that has made vital and durable contributions to open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement on their campus.

The John Jay Society at Columbia University is receiving the 2023 Outstanding Student Group Award for their commitment to fostering viewpoint diversity and constructive disagreement at Columbia with a wide-ranging impact across campus.

The John Jay Society is a debate society for political and moral philosophy founded by students to establish a community of individuals who are concerned about free speech and academic freedom at Columbia. The Society debates weekly, hosts frequent dinners with prominent Columbia faculty, public officials, leading journalists and public intellectuals, and hosts other social and intellectual events.

The John Jay Society has continued to have a broader impact across campus. Over the last several years, students in the John Jay Society approached and uniquely drew together almost 200 faculty across departments and schools around freedom of expression, diversity of opinion and civil discourse who had not found and — given the culture — could not find each other at Columbia, thereby providing the foundation for a faculty-led Columbia Academic Freedom Council. The society also developed The Guide to the Core, a helpful resource for students (especially freshmen,) faculty, and alumni at Columbia.

Leadership Award

The Leadership Award is presented to an individual who has most effectively championed the principles of open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement in the academy and beyond. Roslyn Clark Artis, Ph.D., is the 14th and first woman president of Benedict College. Previously, Artis served as the 13th and first woman president of Florida Memorial University. 

An active HxA member, Artis is a contributor to HxA’s Best Practices Guide and has been an expert panelist for roundtable discussions on the current state of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in higher education. Artis has been recognized nationally for her commitment to the proliferation and transformation of colleges and universities that serve underrepresented people of color. 

She was named Female HBCU President of the Year by HBCU Digest, a Top 35 Leading Women in Higher Education by Diverse Issues in Higher Education, and, in 2020, President of the Year by Higher Ed Dive for her leadership in navigating the challenges of the pandemic. 

Artis is a model for promoting and enacting Heterodox Academy’s core values of open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement on campus. Guided by a strong moral compass, she has been fearlessly committed to standing up for freedom of expression, challenging entrenched conventions and orthodoxies, and pushing students to think beyond their current horizons. She is an inspirational leader and a guide for those who seek to improve the quality of research and teaching in higher education.

Courage Award

The Courage Award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated consistent courage in pursuing truth and bravery in championing the principles of open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement in the academy despite social and professional costs.

Dorian Abbot, Ph.D., is an associate professor of geophysics at the University of Chicago and the co-moderator of Heterodox Academy’s HxSTEM Community. Abbot uses mathematical and computational models to understand and explain fundamental problems in earth and planetary sciences. His work centers on problems related to climate, paleoclimate, planetary habitability, and exoplanets.

In addition to his work as a geophysicist, Abbot is passionately committed to an ideal of fairness and building the next generation of scholars. He advocates for a system of Merit, Fairness, and Equality (MFE) “whereby university applicants are treated as individuals and evaluated through a rigorous and unbiased process based on their merit and qualifications alone.”

Although Abbot’s views on diversity initiatives came under intense scrutiny and led to the cancellation of his October 2021 talk at MIT’s John Carlson Lecture, he has demonstrated consistent courage and bravery in championing his beliefs despite the costs he has endured. He has become a household name in higher education for being a professor who chose courage over fear, the pursuit of truth over group conformity, and free inquiry over censorship of any kind.

Exceptional Student Award

The Exceptional Student Award is presented to an undergraduate or graduate student who has made vital and durable contributions to open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement in higher education.

Emma Camp graduated from the University of Virginia in 2022 with a degree in philosophy and English. While at the University of Virginia, she was a Jefferson Scholar, a regular freelance writer for Reason Magazine, and a Heterodox Academy Student Affiliate.

With a passion for debate and critical inquiry, Emma has been outspoken in her support for freedom of speech on college campuses. In her pursuit to uphold and protect free inquiry, she interned for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education and wrote extensively about campus speech for Reason Magazine, Persuasion, the Cavalier Daily, FIRE Newsdesk, and most recently, the New York Times.

Emma’s pointed and honest New York Times op-ed, “I Came to College Eager for Debate. I Found Self-Censorship Instead,” reverberated around the nation, reinvigorating national debates about the speech climate on college campuses. As a student suddenly thrust into the spotlight, Emma has remained as principled and constructive as ever. In the face of derogation and unconstructive pushback, she has demonstrated exceptional bravery in championing the principles of open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement.

Leadership Award 

Awarded to a person or group that has shown exceptional leadership in championing open inquiry, viewpoint diversity and constructive disagreement in the academy and beyond.

Awarded to a person or group that has shown exceptional leadership in championing open inquiry, viewpoint diversity and constructive disagreement in the academy and beyond.

John McWhorter is a public intellectual and prolific writer who has produced counter-narratives to contentious issues steeped in orthodoxy throughout his 20+ year career. His nominator describes him as “an inspiration and a gadfly in his articles on race and justice,” adding that “his role as a Black intellectual committed to a genuinely open inquiry about issues of race, policing, and justice in America has been essential. McWhorter is championing an actual conversation, in contrast to the imposed and ill-thought-through orthodoxy we are living through now.”

McWhorter’s articles and commentaries have appeared in several publications, including The Atlantic, Reason, The New Republic, Aeon, and many more. He has published op-eds on the increasing pressures of cancel culture in academic settings, including“Academics Are Really, Really, Worried About Their Freedom” and “The Show-Trial Rhetoric That Took Down a Charter-School Founder.” His Quillette piece “Racist Police Violence Reconsidered” presents a more complicated, evidence-based narrative on race and police violence than is often portrayed.

When asked what open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive mean to him professionally, McWhorter shared:

“The humanities and social sciences are permeated by a sense that advocacy is the essence of intellection rather than an offshoot of it. The advocacy in question is leftist, today founded in the tenets of Critical Race Theory that hold battling power differentials as humankind’s most important mission, neglected only by the morally perverted who therefore require censure and ostracization. I stand in opposition to this perversion of what it is to think and to be intelligent, and seek the genuine exchange of ideas central to forging truly new insights.”

McWhorter teaches linguistics, philosophy, and music history at Columbia University. He hosts Slate’s language podcast “Lexicon Valley” and is a Contributing Editor at The Atlantic. He is the author of over 20 books on issues including race and language. His most recent books are “The Creole Debate” and “Talking Back, Talking Black.” He has also composed five audiovisual courses in the Great Courses series on language.

Exceptional Scholarship Award

Awarded to an academic who, through research or another form of scholarship, has greatly contributed to understanding of open inquiry, viewpoint diversity and constructive disagreement.

Amy Lai is a legal scholar and writer based at Freie Universität in Berlin. Born in British Hong Kong, Lai received her legal training in the U.S. She interned at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and worked at Boston-based law firms.

Her nominator described her as ”dedicated to free speech activism and the battle against authoritarianism—both overt and covert, in Hong Kong and in the Western world. She has been outspoken on social issues, including the erosion of free speech in Western academia and the creeping influences of the Chinese government in Western societies.”

Lai was selected for a 2020 Exceptional Scholarship Award in part for her book “The Right to Parody: Comparative Analysis of Copyright and Free Speech,” which proposes a legal definition of parody that ensures the right to free expression. Lai is completing her second book on the origins of the university and free speech in academia, slated to be published with University of Michigan Press. She has also published in the Globe & Mail, Apple Daily, and the McDonald Laurier Institute, a non-partisan Canadian public policy think tank, advocating for nuanced perspectives on colonialism.

Lai says that she “hopes that her book and op-eds will at least inspire people in Western democracies, especially those who have not lived under dictatorships, to not take their freedoms for granted.

Exceptional Scholarship Award

Awarded to an academic who, through research or another form of scholarship, has greatly contributed to understanding of open inquiry, viewpoint diversity and constructive disagreement.

Justin Tosi is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Texas Tech University, and Brandon Warmke is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Bowling Green State University. They were jointly selected as 2020 Exceptional Scholarship Award winners in part for their book “Grandstanding: The Use and Abuse of Moral Talk,” which was featured on the Half Hour of Heterodoxy Podcast. They also co-authored “Moral grandstanding and political polarization: a multi-study consideration,” which was published in the Journal of Research in Personality.

Their book “Grandstanding” distinguishes moral grandstanding from virtue signaling and argues that people use moral talk to gain status, power, and prestige rather than to help others – particularly in the political arena. Their nominator lauded their book for “giving us a language with which to describe contemporary ways of political communication and political speech in general,” which is crucial in a moment of extreme polarization.

Tosi and Warmke have also co-authored pieces for CNN, Aeon, The Conversation, and MarketWatch, and their academic work has been featured in The Atlantic, New York Times Magazine, HuffPost, Scientific American, Forbes, Vox, Commentary Magazine, and The Guardian.

When asked what open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement meant to their professional work, and they shared:

Tosi: “For free inquiry to work, we have to be able to tell the truth, even when it’s not a crowd-pleaser. We also have to listen to and learn from people with whom we disagree. Because people are too often rewarded for abusing moral talk to seek status, free inquiry is regularly under threat.”

Warmke: “The public square is an impressive human achievement. To have a place where diverse people are free to hear and be heard is to have something worth protecting. Understanding what the public square is for and how we can protect it are two of the most pressing philosophical and scientific challenges in the digital age. This is not hyperbole. To address social problems, we must be able to talk to, learn from, and trust one another.”

Teaching Award

For the educator(s) who has most effectively integrated open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, or constructive disagreement into the classroom and/or curriculum.

Matthew Burgess, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies, an Affiliate Faculty in the Department of Economics, and Fellow of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder, is the inaugural Teaching Award winner. Burgess is an environmental scientist who believes in exposing students to a wide range of perspectives. He advocates for a bipartisan, truth-informed approach to climate change, saying, “any approach to addressing climate change that doesn’t pursue and follow the truth will fail. Any approach that is not bipartisan—nor gains broad public support—will fail in a democracy.”

He developed the course Envisioning Sustainable Economies, bridging concepts from macro-economics and ecological economics, which are rarely put in conversation with one another. In this course, Matt explicitly shared the importance of open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement with his students; and, he developed a syllabus that explored tribalism, conflict, and inequality as it related to economics and the environment.

Burgess has also contributed to the conversation about reducing polarization. In July 2020, he co-authored an op-ed with his undergraduate Honors student Renae Marshall entitled “What if a President Ran on What Most Americans Actually Wanted?: Imagining the two-thirds majority platform.” The piece details the many policy positions where two-thirds of Americans are in agreement by way of highlighting areas of political agreement rather than focusing on narratives of a ‘deeply divided’ country. In Fall 2020, Burgess hosted the weekly online discussion series “Reducing Polarization Dialogue” for the CU Boulder community that aimed to develop constructive dialogue on charged issues across ideological divides.

Burgess says that “as an environmental scientist, I study and am motivated by concern about some of society’s most pressing problems, including climate change . . . This is why open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, constructive disagreement, and truth-seeking as the core mission of academia are so important to me, professionally and personally. If we don’t stay true to these values, universities will not only fail to help society meet its toughest challenges, we will also—deservedly—lose our trusted position in society.”

Outstanding Student Group Award

Awarded to a student group for making a particularly vital and durable contribution to open inquiry, viewpoint diversity and constructive disagreement on their campus and beyond.

Princeton Open Campus Coalition (POCC), an undergraduate student organization dedicated to fostering a campus environment free of fear and intolerance at Princeton University, is the 2020 Outstanding Student Group Award Winner. POCC aims to promote free speech and academic freedom and to encourage free inquiry, civil dialogue, and robust discussions between the university’s affiliates.

Multiple HxA members wrote to nominate POCC this year for their impressive efforts, both past and present, to bring open inquiry to their campus. While the founding members have now graduated from Princeton, current students continue to operate POCC and promote these ideals on campus.

POCC formed in fall 2015 in response to a polarizing sit-in at Princeton President Eisgruber’s office and protests led by the Black Justice League. In November 2015, the group wrote a letter to Eisgruber decrying protest efforts that stifled forums for debate. In 2016, Joshua Zuckerman, a founding member of the group, testified to the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, saying that some of the protestor demands would have “especially chilling effects on academic discourse.” The group’s rapid formation in response to these events earned them coverage in many media outlets, including a write-up in The Chronicle of Higher Education and a spot on the National Association of Scholars’ 2015 Top 10 Influencers in Higher Education list. Founding members Joshua Freeman and Joshua Zuckerman were also featured in a 2016 New York Times write-up on student activists.

In 2020, 22 current Princeton students reunited as POCC, in response to a student-led petition and demands for anti-racist administration and policy changes at Princeton. Directly referring to this petition, POCC declared in an open letter to President Eisgruber they “strongly oppos[ed] politicization of the curriculum by requiring courses that reflect a certain ideological commitment.”

When asked what open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement means to them, POCC said, “An environment with increased viewpoint diversity highlights that each person is unique in their humanity. Lack of an opposing viewpoint deprives others of the potential to learn and understand nuances of various topics or experiences that they may not have. Engaging with those we disagree with requires humility, compassion and a common understanding of the inherent worth of each party and not assuming the worst out of them.”

Institutional Excellence Award

For the college or university – or center or institute operating as part of a college or university – that has done the most to advance or sustain open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement either on its own campus or nationally.

Beginning in the 2014-15 school year, there was a marked uptick in protests and unrest in universities nationwide. Over the next few years, they escalated into a series of high-profile demonstrations and clashes – often leading to shoutdowns, disinvitations, firings and resignations. Elite schools were hit the worst. Claremont McKenna College (CMC) was not immune. What set CMC apart was how the community rose to meet these challenges.

In 2019, CMC launched a new initiative, The Open Academy, to help students develop the intellectual and social skills needed to express themselves, debate with respect, and listen actively. The scale of this investment is perhaps unprecedented: $20 million dollars over 10-years, with multiple institutional components to inform campus culture in deep and enduring ways.

Thanks to a significant grant from the Mellon Foundation, professors from different ideological vantage points co-teach courses at CMC, providing students with models for—and practice at—developing a common understanding of critical issues.

The university hosts over 100 speakers each year at its Athenaeum, the campus hub for intellectual engagement. They are one of the only liberal arts colleges in the country to earn a “green light” rating from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) – indicating an absence of policies threatening free expression on campus – and they are among the only schools of any kind in the state of California to achieve that rating (alongside UCLA).

By foregrounding the ways freedom of expression, viewpoint diversity, and effective dialogue support students’ educational and developmental needs, these commitments from CMC mark a critical inflection point in the open inquiry movement. The college has moved the conversation from reaction to intention, beyond “What’s wrong?” to “Why does it matter, for students, the academic enterprise, and the country?” and “How do we fix it?”

CMC has long been known for its demanding curriculum, and for its graduates’ outstanding return on their educational investments. Under the leadership of President Hiram Chodosh, CMC has also emerged as an exemplar for viewpoint diversity, open inquiry and constructive disagreement.

Leadership Award

Awarded to a person or group that has shown exceptional leadership in championing open inquiry, viewpoint diversity and constructive disagreement in the academy and beyond.

Jonathan Zimmerman is Professor of Education and History at the University of Pennsylvania. His research explores the politics around education and, especially, how controversial issues are taught. Given this focus, it is perhaps no surprise that Professor Zimmerman was one of the founding members of Heterodox Academy. Indeed, he was featured in the very first episode of our podcast, Half Hour of Heterodoxy. However, professor Zimmerman was an advocate for viewpoint diversity and academic freedom well before the establishment of Heterodox Academy.

Throughout his career, he has defended colleagues who have come under attack – whether by external forces, students or administrators – irrespective of their politics. In the classroom, he asks his students tough and provocative questions, and expects them to become historically and scientifically literate about the issues in order to answer those questions with sufficient depth, nuance and clarity.

Beyond the classroom, he has worked with Common Party to bring together students across institutional and political lines to better understand and engage with one-another in good faith – particularly with regards to divisive political and moral issues.

Professor Zimmerman also works to bridge the growing divides between institutions of higher learning and the communities they serve. He is consistently featured as one of the most influential education scholars in terms of educational practice and policy (see: RHSU’s Edu-Scholar Public Influence rankings) – and regularly advocates for academic freedom and viewpoint diversity in public-facing outlets and public talks.

In short, Jonathan Zimmerman is the complete package. On every front — research, teaching, institutional advocacy, public engagement – he is an exemplar for how to effectively promote open inquiry, viewpoint diversity and constructive disagreement.

Courage Award

Awarded to individuals who have shown consistent courage in pursuing truth despite social and professional costs.

Many professors who are conservative, libertarian, or who otherwise hold views that challenge the prevailing institutional ethos attempt to conceal their ideological leanings. They often avoid work on controversial topics to minimize the risk of drawing the ire of students or colleagues.

In contrast, Dr. Abrams has virtually always been “out” as a Republican. Rather than avoiding contentious topics, he works in political science – and has been particularly influential in his critiques of orthodoxies surrounding polarization.

He introduces his students to a gamut of political and ideological perspectives in the classroom. A founding member of Heterodox Academy, Dr. Abrams also regularly engages the public on the need for viewpoint diversity, open inquiry and constructive disagreement within institutions of higher learning.

In October 2018, he published an essay in the New York Times about the severe political imbalance among university administrators (which is even larger than the left skew among professors). In order to illustrate how this political homogeneity plays out ‘on the ground,’ Dr. Abrams cited some examples of programming at his own college, Sarah Lawrence.

In response, a contingent of students at his school – egged on by certain faculty and administrators – called for Dr. Abrams to be ousted from his post. In addition to demonstrations, his office was vandalized. There were harassment and intimidation campaigns. University leadership initially neglected to condemn these acts, and instead aligned themselves with the protestors – insinuating that Dr. Abrams had done something wrong in conducting his research or publishing his op-ed. His university president privately suggested to him that he should seek out alternative employment. Responding to these institutional signals, student activists have continued their agitations, recently demanding that Dr. Abrams’ tenure be put up for review.

Regrettably, Dr. Abrams is far from alone in facing retaliation for research or public-facing work that challenges someone’s deeply-held views. What sets Dr. Abrams apart is how he has chosen to respond to his situation. Many who have found themselves in similar circumstances chose to exit the academy. The experience of colleagues, students and university leadership turning against you, or failing to support you, can lead to deep resentment, which can curdle into reactionary politics – leading some who have been on the receiving end of these campaigns to subsequently bash students, professors, administrators, the left, and even the academic enterprise more broadly – and to align themselves with others who do the same.

Dr. Abrams, however, refuses simply disappear, or to cede his institution to opponents of open inquiry and viewpoint diversity. Nor does he allow illiberal actors define the academy – neither for himself nor the public. Instead, Dr. Abrams remains as committed as ever to highlighting positive developments, identifying exemplars, and formulating constructive and data-driven approaches to the challenges universities face. Responding to unjust treatment with this kind of grace requires a level of courage and moral conviction that we desperately need more of within institutions of higher learning – and indeed our society more broadly.

Selected media publications and scholarly essays by Samuel Abrams can be found here.

Exceptional Scholarship Award

Awarded to an academic who, through research or another form of scholarship, has greatly contributed to understanding of open inquiry, viewpoint diversity and constructive disagreement.

Keith Whittington is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics at Princeton University. His recent book, “Speak Freely: Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech”, makes the case for why freedom of expression is integral to what universities are, and the roles they are supposed to play in our society – informed by an understanding of both history and our current circumstances.

The fundamental mission of the university, he argues, is to advance and disseminate knowledge. Consequently, the ultimate goal of a university community must be to “foster an environment in which competing perspectives can be laid bare, heard, and assessed.” In such a community, “unorthodox, controversial, and even wild-eyed professors” should be valued, and regarded as signs of institutional health, rather than being subject to harassment, intimidation or formal sanction – or held up as a sign of what’s wrong with higher education.

Dr. Whittington won the Association of American Publishers’ PROSE (Professional and Scholarly Excellence) Award for Education for Speak Freely. Princeton University’s president, Christopher Eisgruber, assigned the book as a pre-read for all incoming freshman. Copies were also provided, free of charge, to all Princeton undergraduates, graduates and faculty members. Since the publication of the book, Dr. Whittington has taken its message on the road, giving talks at universities nationwide on the importance of free expression for the university, and for society at large. He has also made his case in public-facing forums including Chronicle of Higher Education, Aeon, and Reason.

Additionally, over the last year, Dr. Whittington has published scholarly articles exploring the value and limitations of academic speech in Fordham Law Review, Academe, and in an edited volume by Routledge.

Selected media publications, scholarly essays, and books by Keith Whittington are available here.

 Outstanding Student Group Award

Awarded to a student group for making a particularly vital and durable contribution to open inquiry, viewpoint diversity and constructive disagreement on their campus and beyond.

Much of the public discussion about higher education is centered on elite private colleges, or Ivy League and other R1 universities. Yet, while these schools talk a lot about diversity and inclusion, community colleges walk the walk – providing high-quality, affordable, accessible education to populations that are under-represented and under-served by other schools: low-income students, students of color, military veterans, students from rural areas and small towns, lifelong learners, and other ‘non-traditional’ students.

Perhaps then it should come as no surprise that community colleges also tend to be far ahead of many other schools with regards to respecting and encouraging open inquiry, viewpoint diversity and constructive disagreement. As we highlighted in our June 2019 Reason Magazine feature, Linn-Benton Community College (LBCC) stands out even among community colleges.

The LBCC’s Civil Discourse Club was formed in November 2017, advised by communications faculty (and Heterodox Academy) member Mark Urista. The club aims to promote dialogue that enhances understanding among individuals with diverse viewpoints in an open and respectful environment.

To this end they have put on campus debates, group discussions about controversial topics and even town hall meetings with U.S. senators. They have facilitated Free Intelligent Conversation events in their local community, hosted TED speakers and Village Square events. They manage a campus Civil Discourse Wall. They even provide civil discourse training to others in their college community. As a testament to their effectiveness, the LBCC Civil Discourse Club was awarded full-chapter status as part of Bridge USA; they are the first (and so far exclusive) community college branch of the organization.

As members of the LBCC Civil Discourse Club graduate, some transfer to nearby 4-year institutions, and have demonstrated an eagerness and ability to propagate the Club’s vision and values at other colleges and universities too.

The levels of commitment, ambition, and innovation demonstrated by the Linn-Benton Community College Civil Discourse Club are truly extraordinary — and a model for students and faculty at other colleges and universities nationwide.

Outstanding Student Award

Awarded to an undergrad or graduate student for making a particularly vital contribution to open inquiry, viewpoint diversity or constructive disagreement on their campus or beyond.

Coleman has moderated and headlined numerous events about open inquiry and viewpoint diversity. He has been a guest on major podcasts, including “The Good Fight” (Yascha Mounk/Slate), “The Fifth Column” (Kmele Foster), “Exploring Minds” (Michele Carroll), “Making Sense” (Sam Harris), “The Loury Show” (Bloggingheads) and “The Reason Podcast.” He is a columnist at Quillette; his work has also been published in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Spectator, National Review, City Journal and beyond.

This is an impressive resume for any public intellectual. However, Coleman accomplished all of this in less than two years, and while pursuing an undergraduate degree in philosophy at Columbia University.

The secret to Coleman’s success lies in his analytical acuity (he is brilliant), but also his temperament: he is fair-minded and intellectually humble – yet manages to exude self-confidence and composure well beyond his years. He fearlessly challenges orthodoxies and unapologetically violates taboos – not simply for the sake of doing so (he is no provocateur), but to follow the truth wherever it leads. He transgresses ideological and partisan lines without care and — perhaps most astonishingly in today’s public sphere — changes his mind about things if the facts seem to point in the other direction.

In these regards, Coleman serves as an exemplar not just for his fellow students or aspiring public intellectuals, but for all of us. Heterodox Academy has the distinct honor of having published Coleman’s very first public-facing essay, “A Tale of Two Columbia Classes,” in January 2018. We have been blown away with all that he has accomplished since then, and we cannot wait to see what he has in store for us next.

And as a side note, in case you weren’t impressed enough yet, Coleman is also a world-class musician who has played with Rihanna (at the MTV Video Music Awards, no less), John Mayer and others. He is truly an embodiment of heterodoxy!

Institutional Excellence Award

For the college or university – or center or institute operating as part of a college or university – that has done the most to advance or sustain open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement either on its own campus or nationally.

The University of Chicago has long been a national leader in modeling an institutional commitment to free speech and open inquiry. Their “Statement on principles of free expression” (known as “The Chicago Principles) offers a framework for thinking about the importance of dissent and the role of the university as a platform for debate. These principles have been adopted by other campuses across the country.

The university held a conference with 66 college presidents and provosts to promote and expand initiatives around viewpoint diversity in late 2017. From the Dean’s letter to the class of 2020 informing them that they will “not condone the creation of intellectual ‘safe spaces’ where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own,” to its chart-topping score on the former Heterodox Academy Guide to Colleges initiative, the University of Chicago was the clear winner of this award category.

Leadership Award

Awarded to a person or group that has shown exceptional leadership in championing open inquiry, viewpoint diversity and constructive disagreement in the academy and beyond.

Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, and Cornel West, Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University and Professor Emeritus at Princeton University, earned the first Leadership Award for their shared efforts to marshal support for viewpoint diversity throughout academia.

George is a conservative and West is a progressive. Together, they created the statement on “Truth Seeking, Democracy, and Freedom of Thought and Expression” signed by thousands of professors and others. The statement says, in part:

“All of us should be willing—even eager—to engage with anyone who is prepared to do business in the currency of truth-seeking discourse by offering reasons, marshaling evidence, and making arguments. The more important the subject under discussion, the more willing we should be to listen and engage—especially if the person with whom we are in conversation will challenge our deeply held—even our most cherished and identity-forming—beliefs.”

They also take their partnership on the road, visiting campuses across the US to speak together about their joint efforts and the benefits of open inquiry and constructive disagreement.

Courage Award

Awarded to individuals who have shown consistent courage in pursuing truth despite social and professional costs.

Alice Dreger, a historian of science and medicine, embodies academic courage through her personal conviction and endurance when facing calls to restrict her scholarship. At Northwestern University, she made an open call against censorship after an administrator sought to censor some of her academic writing. As a result, she publicly resigned her post as a part-time medical humanities and bioethics professor.

While at Northwestern, Dreger wrote, “Galileo’s Middle Finger: Heretics, Activists, and the Search for Justice in Science” focusing on researchers who “get in trouble for putting forth challenging ideas about sex.” Since resigning her position, Dreger has spoken at many conferences and in other venues about academic freedom.

Exceptional Scholarship Award

Awarded to an academic who, through research or another form of scholarship, has greatly contributed to understanding of open inquiry, viewpoint diversity and constructive disagreement.

Tenelle Porter, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Davis, and Karina Schumann, assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh, share the Exceptional Scholarship Award.

Their article, “Intellectual humility and openness to the opposing view” in Self and Identity, was an investigation into recognizing the limits of personal knowledge and appreciating the intellectual strengths of others. The results underscore how greater intellectual humility can help us be open to those with divergent perspectives.

In Studies 1 and 2, participants with higher intellectual humility were more open to learning about the opposition’s views during imagined disagreements. In Study 3, those with higher intellectual humility exposed themselves to a greater proportion of opposing political perspectives. In Study 4, making salient a growth mindset of intelligence boosted intellectual humility, and, in turn, openness to opposing views.

Outstanding Student Group Award

Awarded to a student group for making a particularly vital and durable contribution to open inquiry, viewpoint diversity and constructive disagreement on their campus and beyond.

BridgeUSA advances viewpoint diversity by creating a network of student-run chapters on campuses across the U.S. where students can engage divergent ideas––as well as one another––through the practice of responsible discourse. With students increasingly reluctant to share perspectives in classrooms, BridgeUSA provides a venue to have honest, thoughtful, and fruitful conversations that highlight the benefits of ideological diversity and mutual understanding

Our awards committee was impressed with BridgeUSA’s commitment, convening power, and constructive approach to difficult conversations. BridgeUSA chapters currently exist on seven university campuses, with 12 additional chapters coming this calendar year. Their ongoing growth reflects the vitality of their mission and the desperate need for it on campus.

Outstanding Student Award

Awarded to an undergrad or graduate student for making a particularly vital contribution to open inquiry, viewpoint diversity or constructive disagreement on their campus or beyond.

Lindsay Shepherd was a graduate student and teaching assistant at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, working on her M.A. in Cultural Analysis and Social Theory.

Shepherd was thrust into national prominence after recording an evaluation where she was criticized by senior members of her department who took issue with her teaching style and methods to integrate viewpoint diversity in her classroom. Her steadfast response on the value of open inquiry demonstrated extraordinary courage and intellectual honesty.

Since the incident, Shepherd joined HxA as a Graduate Student Affiliate, formed the Laurier Society for Open Inquiry- where she launched an “Unpopular Opinion” speaker series- and become a popular campus speaker. Her Twitter account has become a beacon for developments around viewpoint diversity.

Outstanding Student Award

Awarded to an undergrad or graduate student for making a particularly vital contribution to open inquiry, viewpoint diversity or constructive disagreement on their campus or beyond.

Zachary R. Wood was a Robert L. Bartley Fellow at The Wall Street Journal and a class of 2018 graduate of Williams College, where he served as president of Uncomfortable Learning, a student group that sparked national controversy for inviting provocative speakers to campus.

His commitment to viewpoint diversity extends far beyond the campus of Williams College. In addition to writing advocacy pieces in national publications like The Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, he provided the opening statement at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on “Free Speech 101: The Assault on the First Amendment on College Campuses” and delivered a popular TED talk whose title says it all: “Why it’s worth listening to people you disagree with.”

His book, “Uncensored: My Life and Uncomfortable Conversations at the Intersection of Black and White America”, was published in 2018.