The beginning of a new college year across the United States begs the question of the health of liberal education in America – the ongoing concern that tomorrow’s leaders aren’t receiving the intellectual grounding and diversity of thought that reflects a free society and whether campus life embodies the principles of a rights-protecting democracy. In his new book Reclaiming Liberal Education, a complication of a decade’s worth of columns highlighting various problems plaguing America’s elite institutions (racism, stifling free speech, professors promoting progressive agendas), Hoover senior fellow Peter Berkowitz insists all isn’t lost: universities are being held accountable for their misdeeds; alternative campuses (the University of Austin) and programs (the University of Florida’s Hamilton School) have materialized, and scholars who dare to think differently are in the academic pipeline. As for a reform agenda, Berkowitz insists universities should be open to curriculum reforms and encourage free speech and open debates both on campuses and inside classrooms, but patience will be needed as change won’t happen overnight.
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Steven Wilson, a Senior Fellow at the Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research, joins Hoover Institution fellow Paul E. Peterson to discuss Nikole Hannah-Jones’ recent essay, in which she wrestles with her decision to send her daughter to an underperforming public school.
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On Monday, World Teachers’ Day, friends and relatives of the late Rod Paige released the trailer for a forthcoming film about his remarkable life and career. Titled Paragraphs of a Paige, the appetite-whetting trailer can be viewed here.
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To make itself more open to such intellectual heterodoxy, Harvard could also give it a physical home: an institute for pluralism, modeled on Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. This would offer a non-partisan center that accommodates the intellectual dimensions of conservatism.
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