What We're Readings
Featured Article
First Amendment on Campus
Kieran Ravi Bhattacharya found himself suspended and dismissed from the University of Virginia Medical School after he raised questions during a panel on microagressions. The case is now in the courts and Judge Norman K. Moon of the Western District of Virginia has allowed Bhattacharya’s freedom of speech suit to go forward. The opinion is well worth reading.04-15-2021
What We're Readings
The Classroom as Public Space
Scott Newstock turns to Shakespeare and Hannah Arendt to reflect on the loss of the classroom space over the last year.04-01-2021
Arendt, Camus, and Comte
David Langwallner writes about Hannah Arendt as a public intellectual and highlights her connections with Albert Camus and their joint worry about the rising power of scientists in public life.04-01-2021
Without Vision, the People Perish
Elisa Gonzalez writes about Marilynne Robinson’s novels with a particular attention to her account of race, the Church, and the vision of what America might be.04-01-2021
Anti-Black Antiracists
John McWhorter is publishing excerpts from his new book, The Elect: The Threat to A Progressive America from Anti-Black Antiracists. In the fifth excerpt, he argues that antiracism is a religion that harms black Americans.03-25-2021
Is a Civil War Coming?
Elliot Ackerman asks if the polarization in the United States presages a new Civil War. "A recent poll conducted by Ipsos showed that only 12 percent of Americans consider the country “unified” and concluded that “political party identification has become the chief dividing line in this new American ethos.”03-18-2021
Perpetual War Cultivates Militarism
Brad Evans interviews Vincent Brown about violence, white privilege, and police brutality. Brown begins with an account of the violent foundation of American life.03-13-2021
Is There a Crisis of Academic Freedom?
Eric Kauffmann, who spoke at the Arendt Center’s last conference, has published a study on “Partisanship and Ideology” in the academy. In an op-ed summarizing his study, Kauffmann argues that while academics frequently brush aside worries about partisanship and disciplining of faculty for their opinions, “Academic freedom is in crisis on American campuses.”03-04-2021
Peter Kennard on Arendt and Art
As part of Hannah Arendt Center’s collaboration with the Richard Saltoun Gallery and its year-long exhibition “On Hannah Arendt,” Roger Berkowitz interviews Peter Kennard, one of the artists featured in the show. The interview touches on Kennard’s art, Arendt’s essay “The Concept of History,” and the importance of political art.03-04-2021
Race and Class At Smith
Jodi Shaw resigned from her staff position at Smith College where she earned about $40,000 annually. Michael Powell has a long post-mortem of the controversy in The New York Times. Shaw wrote an open letter to Smith’s President Kathleen McCartney.02-25-2021