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Academia

A collection of 24 posts

Campus Speech and Compromised Safety

Campus Speech and Compromised Safety

As universities try desperately to serve two masters (knowledge production; diversity and inclusion), they will increasingly end up sanctioning speech that should be protected.

Holly Lawford-Smith

31 May 2023 · 9 min read

Campus Puritans Come for an Astronomer—And His Byline

Campus Puritans Come for an Astronomer—And His Byline

By demanding that morality tests be imposed on scientific journal authorship, Geoff Marcy’s critics are creating a dangerous precedent.

Lawrence M. Krauss

25 May 2023 · 12 min read

Critical Race Theory Has a Scholarship Problem

Critical Race Theory Has a Scholarship Problem

For many critical theorists, the true dividing line isn't privileged people versus the oppressed; it's people who agree with them versus those whose motives cannot be trusted.

Julian Adorney

13 May 2023 · 6 min read

What Is a Woman? Many Philosophers Know, But Aren’t Allowed to Say

What Is a Woman? Many Philosophers Know, But Aren’t Allowed to Say

An April 17 Quillette article about sex and gender by MIT scholar Alex Byrne prompted yet another round of debate and denunciation among his contemporaries.

Thomas Palmer

2 May 2023 · 17 min read

Philosophy’s No-Go Zone

Philosophy’s No-Go Zone

An MIT professor describes the outraged reaction from fellow philosophers when he argued that a woman is an adult human female.

Alex Byrne

17 Apr 2023 · 18 min read

The Real Reasons Why the English Department Died

The Real Reasons Why the English Department Died

Most professors would rather watch it die than reform.

Adam Ellwanger

5 Apr 2023 · 9 min read

Is There Such a Thing as a Good Academic-Activist?

Is There Such a Thing as a Good Academic-Activist?

The problem isn’t that some academics are activists. It’s that some academics do activism badly.

Holly Lawford-Smith

20 Mar 2023 · 9 min read

Gender Equity When It Suits

Gender Equity When It Suits

Organisations should apply the principle evenhandedly.

Anthony Jorm

13 Mar 2023 · 5 min read

The Overregulation of Science

The Overregulation of Science

Overly burdensome rules dampen enthusiasm for research and delay scientific progress.

Evan D Morris

24 Feb 2023 · 11 min read

Stuck in the Middle (of Academia)

Stuck in the Middle (of Academia)

Academia is a mess, but there is still hope.

Christopher J. Ferguson

1 Jan 2023 · 11 min read

In the World of Astrophysics, One Failed Cancel Campaign Led to Another

In the World of Astrophysics, One Failed Cancel Campaign Led to Another

When Hakeem Oluseyi exposed false claims about former NASA director James Webb, anti-Webb activists tried to take Oluseyi down as well.

Jonathan Kay

25 Dec 2022 · 8 min read

Bloated College Administration Is Making Education Unaffordable

Bloated College Administration Is Making Education Unaffordable

Our campuses are stuffed with non-academic office workers. If elected to Harvard’s Board of Overseers, I‘ll propose firing most of them.

Harvey Silverglate

2 Nov 2022 · 3 min read

Child Welfare Is Becoming a Joke

Child Welfare Is Becoming a Joke

The field is mired in risible theory and impenetrable jargon, and increasingly divorced from concern with the welfare of children.

Naomi Schaefer Riley

16 Sep 2022 · 5 min read

Why I Left Academia (Since You're Wondering)

Why I Left Academia (Since You're Wondering)

I didn’t have a choice. Thousands of people are driven out of the profession each year.

William Deresiewicz

17 Aug 2022 · 15 min read

Critical Race Theory Wasn’t Always Like This

Critical Race Theory Wasn’t Always Like This

The version of CRT that I studied in the 1990s offered a useful critique of American institutions—rather than a moral condemnation of American souls.

Jonathan Kay

20 Jun 2022 · 5 min read