Jonathan Anomaly: “Conformity in the Cathedral: Causes and Consequences of Groupthink in American Universities”
About the Speaker
Jonathan Anomaly has taught at philosophy, politics, and economic (PPE) programs around the U.S., including the University of Pennsylvania, Duke University, UNC Chapel Hill, the University of Virginia, and the University of Arizona. He is co-author of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, published by Oxford University Press in 2015, and author of Creating Future People: The Ethics of Genetic Enhancement, published by Routledge in 2020. Anomaly earned a BA from UC Berkeley, an MA from Columbia University, and a PhD from Tulane University. Anomaly is a fellow of the Murphy Institute of Political Economy at Tulane University, and received several teaching awards at Duke University, including the "Spirit of Inquiry" award from the Martin Center for Academic Renewal. You can access his academic work at Google Scholar or ORCID.
About the Lecture
This talk focuses on ideological conformity in academia -- where it comes from, which issues are especially sensitive, and why it can be dangerous to enforce taboos around sensitive issues rather than encouraging different sides to openly debate them. How do academic taboos emerge, how are they sustained, and how they pervert the university’s core mission? Hosted by Daniel Jacobson.