Tribal Politics Is Turning Us Against Each Other—and Science

May 10, 2017 · Clay Routledge · 12 Comments

If you’ve spent much time on a college campus you’ve probably heard the claim that conservatives are anti-science. If you’re a liberal who doesn’t interact with many conservatives, you might have believed it. If you’re conservative, you probably felt frustrated and misrepresented. This view of conservatives as anti-science has been broadcast beyond the college campus. … Continue reading “Tribal Politics Is Turning Us Against Each Other—and Science”

Students Tear Down Anti-Socialism Display, but UNC Charlotte Won’t Investigate Nov 11, 2019
Universities may not target unpopular speech on campus often, but when they fail to protect it, the results are similar to officially silencing speech. A recent example of this lack of effort to protect comes from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where an anti-socialism display was destroyed on campus within a day after … Continue reading “Students Tear Down Anti-Socialism Display, but UNC Charlotte Won’t Investigate”
A Complicated Debate: Have States Been Disinvesting in Higher Education? Nov 8, 2019
“Two days. Two reports citing the same data. Two different conclusions.” That is how Rick Seltzer described the near-simultaneous release of two studies looking at state funding in Inside Higher Ed. The first study was written by myself for the Texas Public Policy Foundation and found that state disinvestment is a myth. The second study, … Continue reading “A Complicated Debate: Have States Been Disinvesting in Higher Education? “
Did You Know? Regret Comes with Taking Student Loans Nov 7, 2019
A recent report from Payscale showed that a majority of college graduates regretted their college decision. Out of the 250,000 students surveyed, about 12 percent had some regret the major they picked. The biggest regret, though, came from borrowing student loans. While that regret is consistent among generations, millenials are the first ones to regret … Continue reading “Did You Know? Regret Comes with Taking Student Loans”

Students Tear Down Anti-Socialism Display, but UNC Charlotte Won’t Investigate Nov 11, 2019
Universities may not target unpopular speech on campus often, but when they fail to protect it, the results are similar to officially silencing speech. A recent example of this lack of effort to protect comes from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where an anti-socialism display was destroyed on campus within a day after … Continue reading “Students Tear Down Anti-Socialism Display, but UNC Charlotte Won’t Investigate”
An Anti-Free Speech Conference in Greensboro Nov 4, 2019
Scholars gathered October 24 and 25 at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro to discuss free speech—and focused on its alleged pernicious effects. The takeaway was that the problem is not enough free speech in public, but too much free speech in public. The conference, “Finding Expression in Contested Public Spaces,” featured a keynote … Continue reading “An Anti-Free Speech Conference in Greensboro”
Blinding Themselves: The Cost of Groupthink in Social Psychology Nov 1, 2019
The social sciences have a problem: If their scholars think too much alike, they will be blinded to the flaws and gaps in their research. Rather than explaining how individuals in society act and think, academics can sometimes slip blinders on themselves and the public. Polling shows broad agreement within some disciplines. For instance, recent … Continue reading “Blinding Themselves: The Cost of Groupthink in Social Psychology”

Students Tear Down Anti-Socialism Display, but UNC Charlotte Won’t Investigate Nov 11, 2019
Universities may not target unpopular speech on campus often, but when they fail to protect it, the results are similar to officially silencing speech. A recent example of this lack of effort to protect comes from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where an anti-socialism display was destroyed on campus within a day after … Continue reading “Students Tear Down Anti-Socialism Display, but UNC Charlotte Won’t Investigate”
A Complicated Debate: Have States Been Disinvesting in Higher Education? Nov 8, 2019
“Two days. Two reports citing the same data. Two different conclusions.” That is how Rick Seltzer described the near-simultaneous release of two studies looking at state funding in Inside Higher Ed. The first study was written by myself for the Texas Public Policy Foundation and found that state disinvestment is a myth. The second study, … Continue reading “A Complicated Debate: Have States Been Disinvesting in Higher Education? “
Did You Know? Regret Comes with Taking Student Loans Nov 7, 2019
A recent report from Payscale showed that a majority of college graduates regretted their college decision. Out of the 250,000 students surveyed, about 12 percent had some regret the major they picked. The biggest regret, though, came from borrowing student loans. While that regret is consistent among generations, millenials are the first ones to regret … Continue reading “Did You Know? Regret Comes with Taking Student Loans”