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 2011 and 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, “A Conservative Thought
Experiment on a Liberal College Campus.”


 


Timestamps


00:00 Intro


02:02 Prof. Hersh’s personal political beliefs


03:47 Political diversity among faculty and students


05:14 Hersh’s journey to academia


06:07 What does a conservatism course look like?


09:30 His colleagues’ response to the course


10:29 The challenges of discussing controversial topics


13:28 FIRE’s data on difficult campus topics


17:50 How have campus dynamics changed


19:42 Institutional neutrality


39:14 What are faculty concerned about?


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


46:41 Outro



Transcript is HERE.