Campus talks: The role of universities as bastions of free speech and open debate in polarised times

Oct 30, 2025

Caroline Mehl, co-founder of the Constructive Dialogue Institute, and Abhishek Saha, Professor of Mathematics and free speech advocate, discuss the vital role of universities in fostering free speech amid rising polarization. Mehl explains how to cultivate constructive dialogue through principles like empathy and storytelling. Saha highlights the importance of balancing academic freedom with a safe environment, stressing the need for universities to defend open inquiry while navigating cultural conformity. Both express optimism about renewing healthier debate on campuses.

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INSIGHT

Why Polarization Feels Worse Than Disagreement

Affective polarization is rising faster than ideological polarization because people feel contempt for opponents rather than merely disagreeing.
False polarization inflates perceptions of the other side's extremity and fuels mutual dislike.

ADVICE

Build Dialogue Skills Top-To-Bottom

Embed dialogue skills across campus from presidents to incoming students to set shared expectations for discourse.
Use orientation programs and student leader training to normalise respectful disagreement.

ADVICE

Use Five Principles To Improve Dialogue

Let go of winning and adopt curiosity to reduce defensiveness and improve listening in contentious conversations.
Use questions, storytelling, grounding techniques and seek common ground to keep discussions constructive.

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As centres of learning, universities should be places where ideas, opinions and beliefs can be openly discussed, challenged and interrogated. They also have a duty of care to ensure their diverse community students and staff feel safe, welcome and free from discrimination.

But some claim that an over-zealous focus on inclusion and appeasing students has led to an erosion of academic freedom and allowed a ‘cancel culture’ to dominate higher education, leading to a worrying expected conformity of opinion on important contemporary issues. This is all playing out against the wider backdrop of growing polarisation and identity politics.

For this episode, we speak to two experts in this space to find out what practical steps universities can take to encourage more constructive disagreement and engagement with differing viewpoints among students as part of their learning. And how institutions can uphold the requirements of free speech and nurture plurality across campus, while protecting those most affected by contentious issues.

You will hear from:

Caroline Mehl, the co-founder and executive director of the Constructive Dialogue Institute, a non-profit organisation that builds educational tools to equip US higher education institutions and other organisations with skills to communicate and collaborate across differences. She founded the CDI with psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt in 2017 having previously worked as an associate research scholar and visiting scholar at New York University’s Stern School of Business.
Abhishek Saha, a professor of mathematics at Queen Mary University of London and co-founder of the London Universities Council for Academic Freedom. Abhishek was heavily engaged in lobbying the UK government over key details of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 which came into force this year.

You can find more insight and advice on how universities can encourage respectful disagreement, while handling sensitive topics with care and protecting academic freedom in our latest spotlight guide: Dealing with division: the polarised university.