Ep. 223: Teaching conservatism on a liberal college campus

Can a course on conservatism shake up the liberal status quo on campus?

Tufts University professor Eitan Hersh presents his unique class on American conservatism and its impact on campus free speech and open dialogue. He discusses the challenges and opportunities of teaching conservative thought in a predominantly liberal academic environment.

Eitan Hersh is a professor of political science. He earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2011and was a faculty member at Yale University from 2011-2017.

In March, professor Hersh’s course on conservatism was profiled in Boston Magazine under the headline, “AConservative Thought Experiment on a Liberal College Campus.”

Timestamps

00:00Intro

02:02Prof. Hersh’s personal political beliefs

03:47Political diversity among faculty and students

05:14Hersh’s journey to academia

06:07What does a conservatism course look like?

09:30His colleagues’ response to the course

10:29The challenges of discussing controversial topics

13:28FIRE’s data on difficult campus topics

17:50How have campus dynamics changed

19:42Institutional neutrality

39:14What are faculty concerned about?

42:18What is Hersh expecting as students return to campus?

46:41Outro

Transcript is HERE.