Ep. 223: Teaching conservatism on a liberal college campus

So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast

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.