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'''''Passing on the Right''''' (subtitled: '''''Conservative Professors in the Progressive University''''') is a book-length scholarly study published in 2016 and written by [[associate professor]]s Jon A. Shields and Joshua M. Dunn Sr. The study explores |
'''''Passing on the Right''''' (subtitled: '''''Conservative Professors in the Progressive University''''') is a book-length scholarly study published in 2016 and written by [[associate professor]]s Jon A. Shields and Joshua M. Dunn Sr. The study explores the perceived extent and effects of [[liberal bias in academia]] after conducting interviews with 153 professors from 84 universities who identify as [[conservative]].<ref name="Green">{{cite news|last1=Green|first1=Emma|title=Do American Universities Discriminate Against Conservatives?|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/04/conservatives-discrimination-universities/480372/|accessdate=15 May 2018|work=[[The Atlantic]]|date=April 30, 2016}}</ref><ref name="Sweeney">{{cite news|last1=Sweeney|first1=Chris|title=How Liberal Professors Are Ruining College|url=https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2016/12/20/liberal-professors/|accessdate=15 May 2018|work=[[Boston Magazine]]|date=December 20, 2016}}</ref><ref name="OSO">{{cite journal|author1=Jon A. Shields|author2=Joshua M. Dunn Sr.|title=Passing on the Right: Conservative Professors in the Progressive University|date=March 2016|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199863051.001.0001|publisher=[[Oxford Scholarship Online]]|language=en|oclc=965380745}}</ref><ref name="PW">{{cite web|title=Passing on the Right: Conservative Professors in the Progressive University|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-19-986305-1|website=[[Publishers Weekly]]|publisher=[[PWxyz]]|accessdate=19 May 2018|date=February 29, 2016}}</ref> |
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==Overview== |
==Overview== |
Revision as of 18:00, 19 May 2018
Author |
|
---|---|
Country | United States |
Genre | |
Publisher | Oxford University Press |
Publication date | 2016 |
Media type | Print / Digital |
Pages | 288 |
ISBN | 9780199863068 |
OCLC | 950522551 |
378.1/25 | |
LC Class | LB2331.72 .S55 2016 |
Passing on the Right (subtitled: Conservative Professors in the Progressive University) is a book-length scholarly study published in 2016 and written by associate professors Jon A. Shields and Joshua M. Dunn Sr. The study explores the perceived extent and effects of liberal bias in academia after conducting interviews with 153 professors from 84 universities who identify as conservative.[1][2][3][4]
Overview
Background
Jon A. Shields is an associate professor in the Department of Government at Claremont McKenna College. Joshua M. Dunn Sr is an associate professor of political science and Director of the Center for the Study of Government and the Individual at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs.[3]
Reception
Several scholarly reviews have been published about the book.
Paul Hollander (2016) took issue with the selection process used in the study, pointing out that the authors did not avail themselves of the professors published in the journal Academic Questions nor a sample of members of the National Association of Scholars which publishes it, instead using online directories and less active conservative journals. Despite this shortcoming, Hollander takes no issue with the overall sample size nor the wide range of institutions represented. He chides the authors about the "dubious idea that conservatives lack the appropriate cognitive and psychological traits academic work requires, and are less open-minded than liberals" pointing out that "few liberals or leftists would admit that conservatives are discriminated against", but that "anti-conservative bias resembles other, earlier prevalent racial, ethnic, or sexist biases, which too were always vehemently denied".[5]
Bruce S. Thornton (2016) questions how representative the small sample size of the interviews could be, citing that it is 0.01 percent of the "1.5 million professors and 2500 four-year institutions in the United States" and noting that feedback in the interviews could be anecdotal, subjective, or otherwise unreliable. He takes issue with several conclusions of the authors. As to the authors claims that the impact of lack of ideological diversity on conservative professors is "overstate(d)" and "conservatives can survive and even thrive in the liberal university" despite being stigmatized, Thornton calls the claim "astonishing" and counters by noting the prevalence of massive student-organized protests over the previous year, videos of "students screaming and shrieking at faculty members", and frequent occurrences of visiting speakers being deplatformed. Pointing out the author's claim that there is no "widespread indoctrination" of students, Thornton says that "freshmen and sophomores are especially vulnerable" to such indoctrination by giving examples of how students on his own campus are "funneled" through courses rife with leftist ideology and identity politics. He cites recent surveys pointing out that a majority (53%) of millennials (ages 18-29) view socialism favorably, and 69% would vote for a socialist for president. Thornton praises the authors for their analysis of the academic history of eugenics, the civil rights movement, and that communism "leaves no room for conservative contributions to human progress".[6]
Bradley C.S. Watson (2016), one of the professors interviewed for the study, sympathizes with the authors' difficulty of finding subjects for the study, noting that in some disciplines, like gender studies, none could be found. He noted that those interviewed "were particularly active scholars--far more so than the average professor", yet the authors still chose to keep their identities hidden "because so many of them insisted on it." Watson observes that "(c)onservatives labor under what liberals might call systemic discrimination and glass ceilings", and that many of them remain "closeted" both before and after reaching tenure. He agrees with the authors that the impact of this on students is not worrisome because they are "remarkably resistant to intellectual engagement" but that the lack of a conservative viewpoints does cause them to miss a richer account of human experience to balance out tendentious populist culture. Watson sees the authors broad conclusions may not be meaningful given the small selection of interviews, noting that the challenges faced by the authors may be evidence to the contrary.[7] In his rebuttal to a response by author Joshua Dunn, Watson concludes that "Passing on the Right is self-refuting insofar as it insists that 'the right-wing critique of the university is overdrawn' ", based on the low number of conservative professors found for the study.[8]
Peter Wood (2017) begins by noting the "stir" caused by the book's argument that "conservatives who seek academic careers should keep their heads down until they have tenure" and that, if done right, conservatives can achieve success. He notes that the political left "have made (Passing on the Right) an exhibit for their case that conservative complaints about that domination are exaggerated". Wood does not take issue with the small sample size of professors used for the study, but points out that 127 of the 153 interviews where "protected from the most serious career consequences that can follow from being identified with non-liberal positions" by virtue of being tenured. He objects to the inclusion of libertarian professors in the study, pointing their social views echo progressive views and are more "tolerated by their progressive colleagues". Wood describes the book as "a counsel of complacency" - agreeing that conservatives can overcome the challenges, but that employing an ideological "disguise imposes a profound cost on a scholar". Wood likens Passing to the strategy employed by other marginalized groups known also as "passing".[9]
See also
- God and Man at Yale: The Superstitions of "Academic Freedom"
- The Closing of the American Mind
- Tenured Radicals: How Politics Has Corrupted Our Higher Education
References
- ^ Green, Emma (April 30, 2016). "Do American Universities Discriminate Against Conservatives?". The Atlantic. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
- ^ Sweeney, Chris (December 20, 2016). "How Liberal Professors Are Ruining College". Boston Magazine. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
- ^ a b Jon A. Shields; Joshua M. Dunn Sr. (March 2016). "Passing on the Right: Conservative Professors in the Progressive University". Oxford Scholarship Online. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199863051.001.0001. OCLC 965380745.
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(help) - ^ "Passing on the Right: Conservative Professors in the Progressive University". Publishers Weekly. PWxyz. February 29, 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
- ^ Hollander, Paul (September 2016). "When Right is wrong". The New Criterion. 35 (1). Foundation for Cultural Review: 110+. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
- ^ Thornton, Bruce S. (December 2016). "The Worst That's Been Thought and Said". Academic Questions. 29 (4). Springer US: 472+. doi:10.1007/s12129-016-9597-1.
- ^ Watson, Bradley C.S. (Fall 2016). "Second-Class Citizens". Claremont Review of Books. XVI (4). Claremont Institute: 44–46. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
- ^ Dunn, Joseph (Winter 2016). "Conservatives on campus". Claremont Review of Books. XVII (1): 6+. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
- ^ Wood, Peter (February 2017). "Jon A. Shields and Joshua M. Dunn, Sr., Passing on the Right: Conservative Professors in the Progressive University". Society. 54 (1). National Association of Scholars: 89–92. doi:10.1007/s12115-016-0106-5.