and speaking as a scholar, maybe I could engage with the question. Let’s take “academics” to mean “university faculty” and “liberal” to potentially have at least three different meanings. Turn this formulation around: “why aren’t university faculty (aka “academics”) reliably politically right-wing (one of the several ways to understand “liberal” in the original formulation being … Continue reading »
Religious bases for the conservative imagination, academic environments for inquiring minds
Interesting question. An old friend of mine whom I’ve known since 4th grade and who has always been something of a Republican, recently asked me the same question. There are two answers to the question: (1) academics, especially those in the social sciences and humanities, are likely to be better informed than most and therefore … Continue reading »
Professionalism trumps ideology
When I was small my parents taught me to avoid making small talk around religion and politics. Yet when I meet new European colleagues these days they almost immediately ask me to condemn Bush and praise Obama. Maybe they are trying to pick a fight, but I don’t think so. As far as I can … Continue reading »