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Feb 2023
39m 35s

Checks and Balance: An academic question

The Economist
About this episode

More and more universities across America now require would-be professors to submit so-called diversity statements. These ask applicants to set out their commitment to, and experience of, promoting diversity, equity and inclusion. At the same time some Republican-led states, most notably Florida, are putting their own restrictions on academia.  How healthy is academic freedom in America? 


Dean of Berkeley Law Erwin Chemerinsky makes the case for diversity statements, while NYU’s Jonathan Haidt argues against them. We go back to when professors took a stand against anti-communism. And former head of Human Rights Watch Kenneth Roth recounts his own fight for academic freedom.  


John Prideaux hosts with Charlotte Howard and Idrees Kahloon.


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