Engaging Conservative Youth: Challenges and Opportunities

Nothing animates conservative college students today quite like Turning Point USA. Founded by Charlie Kirk, the right-wing provocateur, the group thrives on an “owning the libs” mentality that is often trained on left-leaning professors. But this brand of conservatism, while big on bellicose taunts, is short on the foundational ideas that have made conservatism such a lasting intellectual tradition. At least that’s the view of Jon Shields, a right-leaning professor of American politics at Claremont McKenna College. For conservatism to thrive in the future, Shields argues, professors of all political stripes should help teach the MAGA crowd about Edmund Burke and the other big thinkers who have long provided the conservative movement with meaningful ballast.

Related Reading: 

These Professors Help Students See Why Others Think Differently (The Chronicle)  

Liberal Professors Can Rescue the G.O.P. (The New York Times) 

Inside a Stealth Plan for Political Influence (The Chronicle) 

The Battle for the Bros (The New Yorker) 

Guest:

Jon Shields, professor of American politics at Claremont McKenna College

For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.