In the wake of the 2004 presidential election, we've witnessed the deep divide in this country around themes of religion and politics, the war in Iraq, and U.S. foreign policy. As faculty members at a leading university, we've also been struck by an uncomfortable realization: we need to confront liberal bias in the academy.
Two experiences brought this point home. Both involved faculty colleagues we like and respect. In one, colleagues tried to block an invitation to a conservative faculty member to speak in a class, even though the invitation had been issued at the suggestion of students who wanted to hear "an intelligent defense of the Republican position." In another, conference participants reacted with anger and disbelief to remarks exploring how liberal bias threatens open inquiry, accusing us of "playing into the hands of the enemy."
Our aim is not to point the finger at others because, frankly, this is our problem, too. These experiences prompted us to notice ways our own liberal assumptions subtly shape our teaching, from how we frame key concepts to how we select service-learning sites. Our reflections reminded us that good teaching requires a commitment to open inquiry “ but we also realized that creating a culture of open inquiry on campus means we first must face our everyday temptation toward political bias.
What is open inquiry? It is a commitment to truth-seeking grounded in intellectual curiosity. It welcomes engagement with a plurality of viewpoints and is suspicious of hardened categories and dogmas. It honors vigorous disagreement as a core value both of the academy and of democracy. It seeks to learn about others and is open to learning from them.
Open inquiry is essential to leadership in diverse and complex societies. Engaging real social problems, from educational achievement gaps to rising health care costs, requires leaders not only to understand conflicting values, interests, and interpretations, but also to integrate them as keys to problem-solving.
Political bias, from either the left or the right, is corrosive of open inquiry. It is the "in" joke or flippant comment suggesting that all rational people are on your side. It portrays opponents in the worst possible light, suggesting they are ignorant, self-righteous, or evil. Bias breeds an enclave mentality that encourages smug and lazy thinking. It blinds us to the complexity of public issues whose resolution is rarely a matter of yes or no, liberal or conservative.
Political bias on the right is not hard to find: just turn your radio to the AM dial. But liberal bias, while perhaps subtler and less vitriolic, is alive and well on campus. Almost two-thirds of students interviewed in a recent survey at 50 top colleges and universities reported that their professors made negative remarks in class about President Bush. Nearly a third said they felt pressured to agree with their professors' political views in order to get a good grade. A growing number of student editorialists -- both conservatives and liberals -- are voicing concerns about the academy becoming a "liberal echo chamber." Some students feel silenced in our classes, and even those who agree with us are missing an opportunity for a deeper, richer educational experience. This is wrong.
In advocating open inquiry, we are not claiming that faculty must be "neutral." The academy needs people with strongly held views. We know faculty members who openly state their own moral and political convictions, while creating an atmosphere that encourages students to air dissenting views. We need, as Duke President Richard Brodhead has argued, to create campus cultures of "positive intellectual difference" or what the poet William Blake called "mental strife." That means welcoming political convictions, not grudgingly or dismissively, but as resources in the learning process.
So, how do we create the conditions for open inquiry? Here's our proposed "litmus test":
- Are we including diverse political views in our readings?
- Are we explicit with students that different viewpoints are welcomed in class?
- Do we invite speakers who represent a range of opinions?
- Are we teaching and modeling dialogue and debate?
- Do we encourage students to develop their own viewpoints and take a stand?
Confronting liberal bias won't be easy. But it's the right thing to do both educationally and politically. It's essential to teaching students how to move from entrenched positions to the common problems and purposes that animate democratic participation at its best.