Last month, UNC-Chapel Hill faculty penned an open letter airing criticism of both the North Carolina General Assembly and the UNC Board of Trustees. Among their complaints was the allegation … Continue reading “The True Story of UNC-Chapel Hill’s New School”
I don’t sleep much after chairing a Braver Angels college debate. There’s a surge of excitement that reverberates for hours after I guide the collision of highly charged, diverse viewpoints … Continue reading “Restoring Real Debate on College Campuses”
Until recently, it was a point of pride that there hadn’t been any speaker “shout-downs” at UNC-Chapel Hill since 2009. But that changed on Tuesday when student protestors repeatedly interrupted … Continue reading “A Partial Shout-Down at UNC-Chapel Hill”
Since the rise of social media, many students have gotten used to discussing difficult topics within the protection of their own echo chambers. Students are often not expected to defend … Continue reading “The Public Discourse Program at UNC-Chapel Hill: Expanding Students’ Minds”
How do we teach students how to think rather than what to think? If the latest election cycle showed us anything, it’s that parents care deeply about what their children … Continue reading “Three Ways to Teach Students How—Not What—to Think”
Karl Marx is a common fixture on college course syllabi. From English to sociology to philosophy, the German socialist’s writings are explained, analyzed, and dissected. I find myself, a teacher … Continue reading “We Need to Teach About the Socialist Alternative…and Its Failure”
A few years ago, my friend Sheila recounted an incident of alleged racism she experienced at a café in California. While waiting in line to order a coffee, a barista … Continue reading “Motte-and-Bailey: The Academic Threat from ‘Lived Experience’”
It can be disheartening to witness how college culture has become inhospitable to viewpoints that fall outside of the ideological mainstream. For example, a March 2020 report by three professors … Continue reading “Teaching Students Civil Dialogue in a Culture Hostile to Free Speech”
Americans used to relish good debates. The debates between Senator Stephen Douglas and his challenger Abraham Lincoln in 1858 were transcribed and widely read. Even though Lincoln lost the election, … Continue reading “Restoring a Great Intellectual Tradition to America’s Campuses”