0:00:10.811,0:00:11.935
As a teacher,

0:00:12.233,0:00:15.214
I know the value of having[br]a classroom filled with students

0:00:15.264,0:00:16.839
from different backgrounds.

0:00:17.073,0:00:21.946
My classes on American politics are deeply[br]enriched by the diversity of my students.

0:00:22.172,0:00:24.740
For example, when discussing[br]welfare reform,

0:00:25.548,0:00:29.016
there's nothing like having[br]a brave young student raise their hand

0:00:29.057,0:00:32.148
and talk about the challenges[br]of personally growing up in poverty

0:00:32.180,0:00:34.903
to get the rest of the class[br]to sit up and pay attention.

0:00:35.937,0:00:38.349
But while our colleges and universities

0:00:38.383,0:00:40.637
make every effort to increase[br]the representation

0:00:40.657,0:00:43.149
of racial, ethnic, and sexual minorities,

0:00:43.179,0:00:46.348
there's another kind of diversity[br]that we often forget:

0:00:46.678,0:00:48.267
viewpoint diversity.

0:00:49.068,0:00:52.621
In today's increasingly[br]polarized political climate,

0:00:52.658,0:00:56.953
having people on campus with different[br]perspectives is more important than ever.

0:00:57.902,0:01:02.923
If you haven't noticed, Washington DC[br]has recently been a bit of a spectacle.

0:01:03.262,0:01:04.782
(Laughter)

0:01:04.941,0:01:07.474
And if you're like me,[br]you've probably thought

0:01:07.495,0:01:11.728
that our leaders could use[br]some remedial education in civil dialogue.

0:01:12.307,0:01:15.347
(Applause and cheers)

0:01:19.028,0:01:20.753
Our colleges could be a place

0:01:20.783,0:01:24.378
where our future leaders learn to engage[br]with people they disagree with.

0:01:24.650,0:01:27.273
But today, too many people[br]on campus seem to think

0:01:27.299,0:01:30.030
that the appropriate response[br]to people they disagree with

0:01:30.070,0:01:33.441
is shouting, name-calling,[br]and even violence.

0:01:34.140,0:01:39.009
Every year, every semester[br]brings more and more examples.

0:01:39.721,0:01:44.520
In 2017, at Middlebury College,[br]when the liberal professor Allison Stanger

0:01:44.547,0:01:47.237
tried to moderate[br]a free and fair exchange of ideas

0:01:47.273,0:01:49.780
with a controversial[br]libertarian Charles Murray,

0:01:49.810,0:01:52.908
students yelled, screamed,[br]and pulled fire alarms.

0:01:53.551,0:01:56.706
Eventually, campus officials[br]tried to sneak them out of back door,

0:01:57.171,0:02:00.039
but a mob of mass protestors found them

0:02:00.340,0:02:02.157
and jerked professor Stanger's head

0:02:02.157,0:02:06.381
so violently that she suffered[br]whiplash and a concussion.

0:02:08.338,0:02:10.340
This is what's happening on our campuses,

0:02:10.930,0:02:15.418
places the next generation of leaders[br]is learning to interact with others.

0:02:15.888,0:02:17.172
If it's happening there,

0:02:17.192,0:02:20.122
can we be surprised[br]at what's happening in Washington

0:02:20.152,0:02:21.632
or corporate boardrooms

0:02:21.656,0:02:23.418
or even our own neighborhoods?

0:02:24.901,0:02:27.321
My expertise happens[br]to be in higher education,

0:02:27.361,0:02:30.182
and I've seen the lack[br]of intellectual diversity first-hand.

0:02:30.790,0:02:34.139
Today, less than 13 percent of professors[br]identify as conservative,

0:02:34.155,0:02:37.412
while 60 percent identify[br]as either liberal or far left.

0:02:38.227,0:02:40.490
In the Humanities and Social Sciences,

0:02:40.520,0:02:43.530
fields where politics is often central[br]to teaching and research,

0:02:43.565,0:02:45.998
only five percent[br]identify as conservative,

0:02:46.686,0:02:49.371
and most of those are in Economics[br]or Political Science.

0:02:49.741,0:02:52.492
In some fields, they're almost[br]an extinct species.

0:02:54.040,0:02:56.442
And of that five percent,

0:02:56.482,0:03:00.392
only some are even willing[br]to admit it to their co-workers.

0:03:00.842,0:03:03.292
Seven years ago,[br]my friend John Shields and I

0:03:03.312,0:03:07.089
decided it would be interesting to study[br]conservative and libertarian professors

0:03:07.109,0:03:08.999
in the Social Sciences and Humanities.

0:03:09.800,0:03:11.545
Everyone in the university knows

0:03:11.594,0:03:13.732
that professors[br]are overwhelmingly liberal.

0:03:14.488,0:03:16.977
But we realized that there[br]was almost no research

0:03:16.998,0:03:19.287
on the experiences[br]of conservatives on campus.

0:03:19.815,0:03:21.062
What are their lives like?

0:03:21.082,0:03:24.179
Are they afraid of being punished[br]or that they'll be denied tenure

0:03:24.199,0:03:25.551
because of their politics?

0:03:25.580,0:03:29.271
We ended up interviewing[br]153 conservative professors.

0:03:29.933,0:03:31.769
Much of what we found was alarming:

0:03:32.242,0:03:35.590
One-third of them hid their politics[br]from their colleagues.

0:03:35.838,0:03:39.851
They described themselves[br]as "in-the-closet conservatives."

0:03:41.385,0:03:44.928
Many expressed profound fear[br]about being outed.

0:03:45.565,0:03:49.317
Some even thought that our project[br]was a Red Scare in reverse:

0:03:50.142,0:03:52.205
we must be trying[br]to identify conservatives

0:03:52.229,0:03:54.202
so they can be run out of the university.

0:03:55.494,0:03:57.856
One sociologist was so afraid

0:03:58.699,0:04:00.766
that he refused to let us interview him.

0:04:01.208,0:04:04.794
But after convincing[br]him that we came in peace,

0:04:04.824,0:04:06.987
he finally agreed to talk to us

0:04:07.243,0:04:09.649
but only far away from his office,

0:04:09.662,0:04:12.478
where his colleagues[br]would never see or hear us -

0:04:13.016,0:04:15.977
in the middle of a botanical garden.

0:04:16.242,0:04:18.731
(Laughter)

0:04:20.077,0:04:23.278
John and I left this interview[br]feeling like spies

0:04:23.302,0:04:28.550
rather than the nerdy, socially awkward[br]professors that we actually are.

0:04:28.573,0:04:30.166
(Laughter)

0:04:30.188,0:04:32.667
Now, maybe you think[br]that it's not a problem

0:04:32.689,0:04:35.870
that conservatives have to hide[br]behind bushes in botanical gardens,

0:04:35.984,0:04:37.554
(Laughter)

0:04:37.606,0:04:40.905
but if you think that diversity[br]is good for all of us,

0:04:41.093,0:04:43.193
then so is viewpoint diversity.

0:04:43.962,0:04:46.004
For one reason, it matters for teaching.

0:04:46.022,0:04:48.682
(Applause and cheers)

0:04:50.893,0:04:51.954
At its best,

0:04:51.983,0:04:55.772
the university is a place where students[br]can learn deliberative virtues,

0:04:55.782,0:04:58.973
like civility, toleration,[br]and mutual respect.

0:04:59.182,0:05:01.792
But in a monoculture,[br]it's difficult to do this.

0:05:01.823,0:05:04.573
This is a lost opportunity[br]for civic education.

0:05:05.075,0:05:06.507
The university is also a place

0:05:06.520,0:05:09.213
where students should learn[br]to live in a diverse society.

0:05:09.502,0:05:11.252
For many, it's really the first time

0:05:11.292,0:05:14.103
they're exposed to people[br]who are different from themselves.

0:05:14.114,0:05:16.383
Ideally, students would learn[br]the best arguments

0:05:16.403,0:05:18.402
of both the left and the right,

0:05:18.402,0:05:20.864
not the watered-down[br]and inflammatory versions

0:05:20.894,0:05:24.400
you hear on cable news[br]or read on social media.

0:05:24.973,0:05:27.744
But today, it's quite possible[br]to receive an education -

0:05:27.771,0:05:29.573
and an elite one at that -

0:05:29.743,0:05:32.731
and never be exposed[br]to major conservative ideas,

0:05:33.089,0:05:38.444
ideas that have, for better or worse,[br]profoundly influenced American politics.

0:05:39.121,0:05:40.914
But it's not impossible.

0:05:41.022,0:05:44.694
Robby George is one of America's[br]most prominent conservative professors,

0:05:44.714,0:05:48.465
and Cornel West is one of our most[br]prominent African American scholars.

0:05:48.494,0:05:51.774
He's a progressive and[br]a self-declared radical democrat.

0:05:52.425,0:05:54.249
Despite their political differences,

0:05:54.259,0:05:57.506
the two became close friends[br]while they were colleagues at Princeton.

0:05:58.223,0:06:00.874
Eventually, they decided[br]to teach a course together.

0:06:00.904,0:06:02.814
Doing that allowed them to show students

0:06:02.834,0:06:05.846
how you could respectfully[br]engage people you disagree with

0:06:05.874,0:06:08.744
and sharpen your own arguments[br]at the same time.

0:06:09.313,0:06:13.597
Today, they have a traveling roadshow[br]and visit campuses around the country.

0:06:14.837,0:06:18.183
The only sad part of their story[br]is that it is so rare.

0:06:18.704,0:06:20.946
Our campuses would be far healthier places

0:06:20.974,0:06:24.593
if their example was the norm[br]rather than the exception.

0:06:24.623,0:06:27.065
(Applause)

0:06:28.703,0:06:30.620
Another important goal of the university

0:06:30.620,0:06:33.852
is to generate research that improves[br]our understanding of the world.

0:06:33.882,0:06:37.641
But academic echo chambers, where we[br]only talk to people we agree with,

0:06:37.662,0:06:39.386
undermine that mission.

0:06:39.707,0:06:42.551
And that's because of confirmation bias.

0:06:42.872,0:06:45.883
Confirmation bias is just[br]the tendency that we all have

0:06:45.907,0:06:49.131
to accept evidence that supports[br]our pre-existing beliefs.

0:06:49.565,0:06:53.522
For example, if you're like me[br]and drink a lot of coffee,

0:06:53.845,0:06:56.165
at least one to two pots a day,

0:06:56.181,0:06:57.961
(Laughter)

0:06:58.286,0:07:02.543
you enthusiastically accept every story[br]about the health benefits of coffee,

0:07:02.554,0:07:04.772
(Laughter)

0:07:04.982,0:07:07.873
and you share them widely on social media.

0:07:09.075,0:07:12.743
"Look, everyone, science[br]has confirmed my life choices."

0:07:12.761,0:07:14.251
(Laughter)

0:07:14.280,0:07:18.770
But if you see research showing[br]that coffee might be bad for you,

0:07:18.791,0:07:22.367
"Don't tell me, I don't want[br]to hear about it, it can't be true."

0:07:22.998,0:07:24.935
That's confirmation bias.

0:07:25.400,0:07:28.976
Basically, none of us like[br]being told that we might be wrong,

0:07:28.989,0:07:31.716
and that's particularly true[br]about our deeply held beliefs

0:07:31.734,0:07:35.103
about things like politics,[br]religion, or coffee.

0:07:35.714,0:07:38.705
When intellectually isolated[br]research communities form,

0:07:38.735,0:07:41.476
no one is there to challenge their biases.

0:07:41.494,0:07:46.804
And when that happens, groupthink sets in,[br]and errors go uncorrected.

0:07:47.996,0:07:50.476
When we're divided[br]into groups of like-minded people,

0:07:50.496,0:07:53.086
our positions also tend[br]to become more extreme.

0:07:53.985,0:07:57.002
Just compare Boulder to Colorado Springs.

0:07:57.025,0:07:59.215
(Laughter)

0:08:00.761,0:08:04.472
You may have heard there are some[br]differences between the two communities?

0:08:04.527,0:08:06.486
(Laughter)

0:08:06.506,0:08:08.695
In fact, scholars have studied them.

0:08:08.991,0:08:11.965
In one experiment, they took[br]a group of liberals from Boulder

0:08:11.994,0:08:15.076
and had them talk about[br]controversial issues like climate change

0:08:15.094,0:08:16.904
and same-sex marriage with each other.

0:08:16.930,0:08:19.974
And then they took a group[br]of conservatives from Colorado Springs

0:08:19.984,0:08:21.474
and had them do the same thing.

0:08:21.999,0:08:27.234
After each group had deliberated,[br]their views became more extreme.

0:08:27.425,0:08:30.291
The Boulder liberals[br]moved farther to the left,

0:08:30.309,0:08:34.382
and the Colorado Springs conservatives[br]moved farther to the right.

0:08:36.132,0:08:40.389
Viewpoint diversity directly affects[br]the quality of education we're providing

0:08:40.401,0:08:43.041
and the quality of research[br]that we're producing.

0:08:43.356,0:08:48.324
Universities, particularly administrators,[br]must make it a priority.

0:08:49.007,0:08:50.682
They need to remind their campuses

0:08:50.703,0:08:54.003
that the university depends[br]on the free exchange of ideas.

0:08:54.248,0:08:57.412
And that affects everything[br]from hiring to guest speakers.

0:08:58.114,0:09:00.572
Now, these changes[br]aren't going to happen overnight,

0:09:00.602,0:09:03.557
but there are things that we can do[br]that can make a difference.

0:09:04.093,0:09:06.436
One option is what my co-author[br]and I have called

0:09:06.436,0:09:08.626
"an ideological Fulbright Program."

0:09:09.157,0:09:12.135
The Fulbright Program[br]is an educational exchange program

0:09:12.155,0:09:16.268
where American faculty and students[br]go abroad to study, teach, and research.

0:09:16.304,0:09:19.067
And then non-US citizens[br]come here and do the same.

0:09:19.344,0:09:21.908
America created it after World War II.

0:09:22.232,0:09:24.180
The goal was to promote peace

0:09:24.191,0:09:27.728
by increasing mutual[br]understanding across cultures.

0:09:28.267,0:09:30.869
Something similar[br]would be useful here at home,

0:09:30.893,0:09:32.907
where conservative[br]and progressive cultures

0:09:32.930,0:09:35.588
rarely interact with each other on campus.

0:09:35.595,0:09:37.893
In fact, there's already[br]a program much like this

0:09:37.911,0:09:39.802
at the University of Colorado Boulder,

0:09:39.839,0:09:42.758
where each year they bring[br]a conservative professor to campus.

0:09:43.381,0:09:46.280
(Laughter)

0:09:48.901,0:09:51.078
More faculty could also be encouraged

0:09:51.082,0:09:54.049
to follow the example[br]of Robby George and Cornel West

0:09:54.076,0:09:56.860
and teach classes[br]across the ideological divide.

0:09:57.029,0:09:59.217
Many professors are already on board.

0:09:59.482,0:10:01.243
One organization, Heterodox Academy,

0:10:01.273,0:10:04.810
was founded in 2015[br]by a progressive scholar.

0:10:04.836,0:10:07.572
It already has several thousand members.

0:10:08.089,0:10:10.482
These faculty believe[br]that viewpoint diversity

0:10:10.515,0:10:12.563
is in their own self-interest

0:10:12.577,0:10:16.245
because it makes them[br]better teachers and scholars.

0:10:17.795,0:10:22.067
But there's a deeper lesson for all of us[br]whether we're on campus or not.

0:10:22.692,0:10:25.419
We all need to get out[br]of our comfortable political silos

0:10:25.449,0:10:27.311
on Facebook or Twitter.

0:10:28.590,0:10:30.641
Think about the close, personal friendship

0:10:30.661,0:10:33.251
between the conservative[br]Justice Antonin Scalia

0:10:33.263,0:10:35.704
and the liberal Justice[br]Ruth Bader Ginsburg,

0:10:35.752,0:10:38.057
(Applause and cheers)

0:10:38.067,0:10:40.588
the notorious RBG, as she's known.

0:10:40.607,0:10:42.417
(Laughter)

0:10:43.337,0:10:45.118
Before Justice Scalia died,

0:10:45.132,0:10:48.748
there were hardly two people[br]on the Court who disagreed more

0:10:48.766,0:10:51.297
about how to interpret the Constitution.

0:10:51.328,0:10:54.552
But there were no closer friends[br]on the Court either.

0:10:54.920,0:10:57.477
In fact, they also had[br]a traveling roadshow,

0:10:57.497,0:10:59.119
where they went around the country

0:10:59.119,0:11:01.799
and talked about how they disagreed[br]just about everything

0:11:01.829,0:11:04.589
when it came to politics[br]or constitutional interpretation.

0:11:04.620,0:11:08.502
Their odd-couple relationship[br]even inspired someone to write an opera

0:11:08.535,0:11:10.532
about their peculiar friendship.

0:11:10.584,0:11:12.083
(Laughter)

0:11:12.842,0:11:15.025
When Justice Scalia died,

0:11:15.507,0:11:19.432
Justice Ginsburg wrote a moving tribute[br]to the man she called her best buddy.

0:11:20.010,0:11:23.548
She said, "We disagreed now and then."

0:11:23.807,0:11:25.328
(Laughter)

0:11:25.368,0:11:28.991
That's a significant understatement[br]for anyone who studies the Supreme Court,

0:11:29.659,0:11:33.836
but she said whenever Scalia[br]dissented from her opinions,

0:11:33.843,0:11:36.642
it always made them better

0:11:36.936,0:11:40.970
because Scalia nailed all the weak spots.

0:11:42.317,0:11:44.168
We all need friends like that.

0:11:44.958,0:11:48.100
We can't really do our jobs[br]as citizens without them.

0:11:49.525,0:11:50.540
In the end,

0:11:50.553,0:11:54.274
what happens in the ivory tower[br]doesn't stay in the ivory tower

0:11:54.807,0:11:57.842
because today's student[br]is tomorrow's leader.

0:11:58.617,0:12:03.284
A diversity of ideas will make us[br]better leaders, neighbors, voters,

0:12:03.993,0:12:06.250
but only if we get a chance to hear them.

0:12:06.719,0:12:07.841
Thank you.

0:12:07.852,0:12:10.396
(Applause)