The university is the place where the pursuit of truth is taught, the rules for learning how to pursue it are explained, and students begin to unders….

I think the anger that is being directed to universities and so-called elites at universities is actually an anger that's displaced from politicians ….

If the students don't want to learn about evolution, they shouldn't be in the course. A biology course that teaches creationism is not a science cour….

Freedom of speech is about expressing your opinion, however bad or good, however right or wrong, and being able to defend it and argue it and be argu….

What I mean by the common good is that we understand we're all part of something bigger than ourselves, that we live in societies together and must h….

The reason you go to university is to be taught, is to learn how to think more clearly, to call into question the ideas that you came with and think ….

I think there is a disrespect for the mind that Trump, for example, exemplifies. His is a kind of strategic thinking that's more about shrewdness tha….

I think what is being pointed out by African-Americans is that from slavery forward they have been living in a supposed democracy which treats them a….

We've increasingly lost that sense of community, of the notion that there is something we contribute to and benefit from that is called the common go….

Richard Hofstadter, in his famous book which was written in the time of the McCarthy period in the 1950 and 1960s, Anti-intellectualism in American L….

We've increasingly lost that sense of community, of the notion that there is something we contribute to and benefit from that is called the common go….

I don't think colleges are safe spaces. It's one thing to have a fraternity house or a community center where students can go and talk about their sh….

There's actually a wonderful quote from Stanley Fish, who is sometimes very polemical and with whom I don't always agree. He writes, "Freedom of spee….

Free speech is what we all have and is guaranteed by the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Academic freedom refers to what happens in the unive….

The thing about education - and why I'm so passionate about the position and status of the university - is that it's supposed to teach citizens how t….

The internet has made possible a frightening practice of threats and intimidation - threats of unspeakable violence and death..

There are students whose religious upbringing is going to make them feel uncomfortable in a class where certain kinds of secular ideas are presented.….

The growing gap between rich and poor, the seeming lack of concern for the health and well-being of ordinary people, the obscene salaries made by CEO….

All of my work in some way or another speaks to political issues according to the upbringing that I had, which was deeply rooted in principles..

The common good is the notion of shared collective responsibility and reciprocity. It's that that we've lost..

Those who expect moments of change to be comfortable and free of conflict have not learned their history..