Heterodox Out Loud

In this episode of Heterodox Out Loud, we look at a deeply counterintuitive claim within the free speech movement in higher education: that mandatory faith statements at universities may actually support and advance academic freedom. Our guest is Shirley Mullen, who served as president of Houghton College for 15 years, retiring in May of 2021. Prior to becoming Houghton’s president, she served at various times as a classroom professor, chief academic officer and residence life director. Blog post: In Defense of Faith StatementsLet us know what you think! For comments and questions email communications@heterodoxacademy.org.This episode was hosted by Zach Rausch, and produced by Davies Content. IMPORTANT NOTE: In this episode, we discuss HxA's upcoming conference in Denver, June 12 - 14. Tickets are now sold out. For those who are unable to attend, we will post video footage of the conference in the weeks following.Heterodox Out Loud is an ongoing series of selected pieces from heterodox: the blog in audio form with exclusive interviews. Follow Heterodox Academy on:Twitter: https://bit.ly/3Fax5DyFacebook: https://bit.ly/3PMYxfwLinkedIn: https://bit.ly/48IYeuJInstagram: https://bit.ly/46HKfUgSubstack: https://bit.ly/48IhjNF 🔗 Find out more about Heterodox Academy at: https://linktr.ee/heterodoxoutloud

In this episode of Heterodox Out Loud, we’re giving our podcast community a first look at the vital conversations to expect at HxA Conference 2022 in Denver this June, as we host a discussion between two of our conference speakers on the crisis of trust in higher education—a central theme in both our upcoming conference and summer programming.Our guests on the show are Kyle Vitale, HxA’s Director of Programs and Erec Smith, Associate Professor of Rhetoric at York College of Pennsylvania and co-founder of Free Black Thought, a non-profit that highlights black viewpoint diversity.Before hearing from Kyle and Erec, you’ll listen to a blog post on this core topic of HxA Conference 2022: The Trust Crisis in Higher Education. The post features four perspectives from four of our conference speakers: Erec Smith, today’s podcast guest and Associate Professor of Rhetoric at York College of Pennsylvania Holden Thorp, Editor-in-Chief at the Science family of journals, Shirley Mullen, President Emerita at Houghton College Michael Roth, President of Wesleyan University.  Blog post: On The Crisis of Trust in Higher Education For more from our guests, you can follow Erec on Twitter at @Rhetors_of_York, and Kyle at @kylesebvitaleLet us know what you think! For comments and questions email communications@heterodoxacademy.org.This episode was hosted by Zach Rausch, and produced by Davies Content. Heterodox Out Loud is an ongoing series of selected pieces from heterodox: the blog in audio form with exclusive interviews. Follow Heterodox Academy on:Twitter: https://bit.ly/3Fax5DyFacebook: https://bit.ly/3PMYxfwLinkedIn: https://bit.ly/48IYeuJInstagram: https://bit.ly/46HKfUgSubstack: https://bit.ly/48IhjNF 🔗 Find out more about Heterodox Academy at: https://linktr.ee/heterodoxoutloud

In this special episode of Heterodox Out Loud, we’re sharing excerpts from a personal and wide-ranging interview between Heterodox Academy President, John Tomasi, and philosopher turned podcast host, Zohar Atkins.We hear Tomasi discuss his deep interest in philosophy, how skepticism and faith can be friends, and the challenges he’s faced throughout his career, both as an academic and now as president of Heterodox Academy. You can hear the full 70 minute interview on Zohar’s podcast, Meditations with Zohar.Let us know what you think! For comments and questions email communications@heterodoxacademy.org.This episode was hosted by Zach Rausch, and produced by Davies Content. Heterodox Out Loud is an ongoing series of selected pieces from heterodox: the blog in audio form with exclusive interviews.  Follow Heterodox Academy on:Twitter: https://bit.ly/3Fax5DyFacebook: https://bit.ly/3PMYxfwLinkedIn: https://bit.ly/48IYeuJInstagram: https://bit.ly/46HKfUgSubstack: https://bit.ly/48IhjNF 🔗 Find out more about Heterodox Academy at: https://linktr.ee/heterodoxoutloud

In this episode of Heterodox Out Loud, we explore the flawed human tendency to reject and censor opposing arguments — especially when they contradict values and beliefs that are held with conviction. Our guest on the show, Robert George, the sixth McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, explains how we can remain confident and passionate in our commitments, while also embracing and engaging opposing perspectives.In addition to his academic accolades, George has served as Chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom as well as a presidential appointee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and the President’s Council on Bioethics. In addition, Professor George has served as the U.S. member of UNESCO’s World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology. George’s blog post: On Critics and Bullies. The post was originally published on the Blog, Mirror and Justice. For more from George, you can follow him on Twitter at @McCormickProfLet us know what you think! For comments and questions email communications@heterodoxacademy.org.This episode was hosted by Zach Rausch, and produced by Davies Content. Heterodox Out Loud is an ongoing series of selected pieces from heterodox: the blog in audio form with exclusive interviews.  Follow Heterodox Academy on:Twitter: https://bit.ly/3Fax5DyFacebook: https://bit.ly/3PMYxfwLinkedIn: https://bit.ly/48IYeuJInstagram: https://bit.ly/46HKfUgSubstack: https://bit.ly/48IhjNF 🔗 Find out more about Heterodox Academy at: https://linktr.ee/heterodoxoutloud

In this episode of Heterodox Out Loud, we explore a concept revered by many and challenged by few in higher education—the value of diversity. We look beyond the surface of this belief, and consider how different kinds of diversity impact team building, decision making, and collective intelligence.  Our guest on the show is Ravi Kudesia, Assistant Professor at the Fox School of Business at Temple University. He teaches courses on Power, Influence, and Negotiation, has won numerous teaching awards, and has appeared in The Financial Times, New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, CNN, and a number of other outlets.Ravi’s blog post: Diversity Is Not Enough: Why Collective Intelligence Requires Both Diversity and DisagreementFor more from Ravi, you can follow him on Twitter at @rskudesia.Let us know what you think! For comments and questions email communications@heterodoxacademy.org.This episode was hosted by Zach Rausch, and produced by Davies Content. Heterodox Out Loud is an ongoing series of selected pieces from heterodox: the blog in audio form with exclusive interviews.  Follow Heterodox Academy on:Twitter: https://bit.ly/3Fax5DyFacebook: https://bit.ly/3PMYxfwLinkedIn: https://bit.ly/48IYeuJInstagram: https://bit.ly/46HKfUgSubstack: https://bit.ly/48IhjNF 🔗 Find out more about Heterodox Academy at: https://linktr.ee/heterodoxoutloud

On part 1 of this episode of Heterodox Out Loud, we’ll listen to Jonathan Haidt’s edited summary of a seminal academic paper that helped lead to the founding of Heterodox Academy. The original paper, “Political Diversity Will Improve Social Psychological Science,” was published in Behavioral and Brain Sciences in 2015, and was written by Jonathan Haidt, Lee Jussim, Jose Duarte, Jarret Crawford, Phil Tetlock, and Charlotta Stern. Make sure to listen to listen to part 2 where we speak with co-author Lee Jussim, Social Psychologist and Distinguished Professor at Rutgers University, about how political bias in academia can solidify into orthodoxies that undermine truth-seeking and critical inquiry. Let us know what you think! For comments and questions email communications@heterodoxacademy.org.This episode was hosted by Zach Rausch, and produced by Davies Content. Heterodox Out Loud is an ongoing series of selected pieces from heterodox: the blog in audio form with exclusive interviews.  Follow Heterodox Academy on:Twitter: https://bit.ly/3Fax5DyFacebook: https://bit.ly/3PMYxfwLinkedIn: https://bit.ly/48IYeuJInstagram: https://bit.ly/46HKfUgSubstack: https://bit.ly/48IhjNF 🔗 Find out more about Heterodox Academy at: https://linktr.ee/heterodoxoutloud

On part 2 of this episode of Heterodox Out Loud, we continue exploring how political bias in academia can solidify into orthodoxies that undermine truth-seeking and critical inquiry.We speak with co-author of Political Diversity Will Improve Social Psychological Science, Lee Jussim, Social Psychologist and Distinguished Professor at Rutgers University. Lee has published numerous articles and edited several books on social perception, accuracy, self-fulfilling prophecies, and stereotypes. For more from Lee, check out his Psychology Today blog called Rabble Rouser. Let us know what you think! For comments and questions email communications@heterodoxacademy.org.This episode was hosted by Zach Rausch, and produced by Davies Content. Heterodox Out Loud is an ongoing series of selected pieces from heterodox: the blog in audio form with exclusive interviews.  Follow Heterodox Academy on:Twitter: https://bit.ly/3Fax5DyFacebook: https://bit.ly/3PMYxfwLinkedIn: https://bit.ly/48IYeuJInstagram: https://bit.ly/46HKfUgSubstack: https://bit.ly/48IhjNF 🔗 Find out more about Heterodox Academy at: https://linktr.ee/heterodoxoutloud

On today's episode of Heterodox Out Loud, we explore the possibility that the ongoing crisis of free inquiry and viewpoint diversity in universities is not a sudden aberration, but instead the inevitable outcome of a rigid, top-down university system. From undermining students’ natural curiosity to increasing stress and anxiety, we talk with Dylan Selterman—Social-Personality Psychologist and Associate Teaching Professor at Johns Hopkins University—about the flaws in our current education system and his vision for a more student-led academic future. Dylan’s blog post: “Curiosity Is One Key To Heterodoxy. Forced Memorization Is Not.”For more from Dylan, check out his Psychology Today blog called The Resistance Hypothesis. He also hosts a podcast with Manuel Galvan called A Bit More Complicated (available at Apple Spotify Anchor). Let us know what you think! For comments and questions email communications@heterodoxacademy.org.This episode was hosted by Zach Rausch, and produced by Davies Content. Heterodox Out Loud is an ongoing series of selected pieces from heterodox: the blog in audio form with exclusive interviews.  Follow Heterodox Academy on:Twitter: https://bit.ly/3Fax5DyFacebook: https://bit.ly/3PMYxfwLinkedIn: https://bit.ly/48IYeuJInstagram: https://bit.ly/46HKfUgSubstack: https://bit.ly/48IhjNF 🔗 Find out more about Heterodox Academy at: https://linktr.ee/heterodoxoutloud

Why do some academic fields have political disparities among professors between 40/100:1 (liberals to conservatives), while other fields have little to no disparity at all? For answers, we talk with John Paul Wright, professor of Criminology at the University of Cincinnati. He explains that the political disparities that exist can be understood if we dive into the research on the development of criminal gangs.John’s blog: “Political Disparities in the Academy: It’s More Than Self-Selection”Let us know what you think! For comments and questions email communications@heterodoxacademy.org.This episode was hosted by Zach Rausch, and produced by Davies Content. Heterodox Out Loud is an ongoing series of selected pieces from heterodox: the blog in audio form with exclusive interviews.  Follow Heterodox Academy on:Twitter: https://bit.ly/3Fax5DyFacebook: https://bit.ly/3PMYxfwLinkedIn: https://bit.ly/48IYeuJInstagram: https://bit.ly/46HKfUgSubstack: https://bit.ly/48IhjNF 🔗 Find out more about Heterodox Academy at: https://linktr.ee/heterodoxoutloud

On today's episode of Heterodox Out Loud, we explore the now widespread use of diversity, equity, and inclusion statements to hire, recruit, and promote in higher education. Our guest, Alex Small, Professor of Physics at California State Polytechnic University, argues that while inclusion statements are often well-meaning attempts to uplift compassionate teachers and mentors, they may be simply filtering for ideological conformity and slogan-savvy careerists. Alex’s blog: “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statements: Compassion Filter or Ideological Test?”Let us know what you think! For comments and questions email communications@heterodoxacademy.org.This episode was hosted by Zach Rausch, and produced by Davies Content. Heterodox Out Loud is an ongoing series of selected pieces from heterodox: the blog in audio form with exclusive interviews.  Follow Heterodox Academy on:Twitter: https://bit.ly/3Fax5DyFacebook: https://bit.ly/3PMYxfwLinkedIn: https://bit.ly/48IYeuJInstagram: https://bit.ly/46HKfUgSubstack: https://bit.ly/48IhjNF 🔗 Find out more about Heterodox Academy at: https://linktr.ee/heterodoxoutloud