Tackling tough topics with respect at heart of speech and 表达式 symposium
How do colleges and universities talk about contentious issues across a deepening 政治分歧? How do campuses promote the free exchange of ideas in an age of 社交媒体和人工智能? Is it possible to stave off further polarization? 大学是否变得过于“清醒”?我们是否需要校园里的安全空间?民主是否存在 值得一试?
这些问题是许多具有挑战性的问题之一 知识分子(包括《火博体育》专栏作家大卫·布鲁克斯)和火博体育教师 学生们参与并辩论 Speech and Expression on College Campuses Symposium4月14日至15日.
这些话题具有挑战性，观点分歧，答案并不总是明确的. And the program’s organizer, 火博体育大学 President Marc C. 康纳，我不想 如果是其他方式.
从左到右，丹尼尔·艾伦，詹姆斯·布莱恩特·科南特大学教授和主任 the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Ethics at 哈佛大学; Michael Roth, president of Wesleyan University; and New York Times Columnist, author, and commentator 大卫·布鲁克斯分别在研讨会上发言.
“我们只是希望这样做——花一个周末的时间来讨论言论和表达。” 康纳说. “This is the age in which we live: Polarization. 不宽容. 摩尼教的 我们对抗他们的世界. All intensified by the phenomenon of social media … Students today are coming into their political consciousness in this environment. 我们有一个 uphill battle to convince them that this is not the way democracy works.”
Presenting an alternative — a positive model of dialogue and democracy in action — was what the high-profile, two-day symposium at the Arthur 赞克尔音乐中心 was 所有火博体育. Through their participation, panelists showed their collective commitment 要在积极和相互尊重的思想交流的同时探索维护自由的途径 speech and 表达式 in an increasingly charged environment.
丹尼尔·艾伦，詹姆斯·布莱恩特·科南特大学教授，埃德蒙 和哈佛大学莉莉·萨弗拉伦理研究中心共同主持的研讨会于周五开幕， April 15, by citing statistics showing fewer younger people deemed it essential to 生活在民主国家. 艾伦解释了为什么民主很重要.
摩根·西克尔斯，23岁 speaks about "The Effects of Mistrust in Academic Institutions.”
“民主是唯一能让我们有空间管理自己的政府结构 还有我们的私人生活，以及在公共场合与他人一起执政的机会 生活，所以我们可以一起工作，我们可以共同创造法律，规范和约束 that shape and structure the world we share,” Allen said in her keynote address on 4月14日星期五. “Only democracy is designed to ask to activate human beings as a 我们是有目的和判断力的生物. 这就是为什么民主很重要，为什么 它是珍贵的，为什么保存它值得我们的精力，我们的承诺，我们的耐力.”
At the same time, Allen said it was unrealistic to expect disagreement to go away.
当你赋予人们共同治理的权力时，你肯定会有分歧， so a love of democracy has to bring with it a love of disagreement.丹尼尔•艾伦哈佛大学
A panel of Skidmore faculty moderated by Professor of 英语 Calvin Baker started a full and lively day of conversations on Saturday, April 15. 副教授 政治科学的弗拉格·泰勒在吸取教训时提出了哲学见解 从柏拉图，废奴主义者弗雷德里克·道格拉斯，以及泰勒自己在火博体育的课程， 言论自由及公民言论自由. Senior Teaching Professor of International Affairs and Arts Administration Scott Mulligan spoke from a legal perspective. 即使是社交媒体 穆利根认为，人工智能使谎言更容易传播 that silencing speech 在校园 usually ended up doing more harm than good. 联系 Professor of History and Frances Young Tang '61 Chair in Chinese Studies Jenny Day 描述了全球化带来的复杂性，以及火博体育教育学生的责任 as global citizens, and the pressures that international students face.
“如果我们不能在这样的大学校园里彼此交谈，找到共同点 地面，当我们的学生在这个世界上，他们没有机会改变他们的 思想或者我们自己的思想，”她说.
赞克尔大学文科学生管理学教授Pushkala Prasad描述道 campus “meltdowns” surrounding speakers or language used in the classroom that have 近年来变得司空见惯，并呼吁高校搞“认真和认真” 持续对话”以缓解紧张局势.
“The world we live in is a tough and frequently disturbing one. 粉饰它 the name of creating a safe space is likely to fail our students by sheltering them 从生活的不幸中解脱出来，阻止他们发展急需的韧性，” 普拉萨德说.
By design, disagreement was part 研讨会的内容.
卫斯理大学(Wesleyan University)校长迈克尔•罗斯(Michael Roth)提出了一个不同的观点 在他的新书《火博体育》中 演讲和政治正确.” Roth said policies about free speech itself weren’t 足够了，而且大学也应该在越来越多的雪崩中教授辨别力 网上可获得的信息.
“We have to make nuanced judgements about what is safe enough to learn. 程序 aren’t enough,” he said at a lunch plenary session.
左起为国际事务与艺术管理学院高级教学教授 Scott Mulligan, 副教授 of History and Frances Young Tang '61 Chair in Chinese Studies Jenny Day, Zankel Professor of Management for Liberal Arts Students Pushkala Prasad, and Professor of 英语 Calvin Baker participate in the faculty 研讨会小组讨论.
对康纳校长来说，这个项目的一个亮点是火博体育学生的晨间小组讨论， 由学院院长兼学生事务副校长Adrian Bautista主持， 解决了一些最紧迫的问题在言论自由和 高等教育. Business major and 西班牙语 minor 摩根·西克尔斯，23岁 discussed Generation Z对制度的不信任. 梅勒妮·诺兰23岁, an 英语 major and intergroup relations 她描述了自己在个人权利基金会实习的经历 and Expression (FIRE) and the free speech-themed art exhibition that she organized 在校园. In her talk, “The Reality of Wokeism in Higher Education,” business major 社会学专业23年级的辅修学生Kiryat Hance研究了平衡承诺与包容的方法 在课堂上同时提出取消文化和承诺自由的问题 表达式. Fatafta先生23岁, biology major and business minor, considered the censorship 巴勒斯坦人在大学的演讲.
谦虚地说，教育要求，在你声称知道真相之前，你需要理解 more than just your side,” observed political science major 约书亚·切里，23岁, who 哀叹大学课堂上智力多样性下降的前景 自我审查.
Our comfort zone is a beautiful thing, but nothing can grow there. 我们越成长 适应不舒服，我们就越能给自己学习的空间 成长.约书亚·切里，23岁
经过两天充满挑战的密集谈话，大卫·布鲁克斯回忆道 how his own political views have evolved throughout his lifetime and made the case 因为他们互相尊重.
“As one conversation expert told me, ‘Respect in a conversation is like air: When it’s present, no one notices; when it’s absent, it’s all anyone can think about,’” 布鲁克斯在座无虚席的音乐厅里说. “No matter how hard people are in these hard conversations, with a little show of respect, a little honoring, a little genuine curiosity, you 能让最具敌意的人冷静下来，你们真的能进行愉快的对话吗 我明白了智者不是像尤达那样给你理智的圣人 advice; wise people are people who really hear you.”
康纳主席在结束语中指出，“我们以 a focus on speech and 表达式; we end it with a focus on listening, which is probably the skill we need to develop most to safeguard the democratic principles on which 我们依靠.”
