Creative Conversations, Academy Members 2024
Below is our series of conversations with Academy members invested in 2024 on the joys and challenges of contemporary academic life.
Academy Member Daniel Asia
Dr. Asia discusses the danger of prioritizing politics over beauty in the creation of art, the origins of the university in knowledge traditions that were wider and deeper than mere technical expertise or political ideology, and the importance of educating the souls as well as the minds of students.
Transcript of this conversation coming soon.
Academy Member Clifford Brangwynne
Dr. Brangwynne discusses why a healthy university community is like an institutionalized Uber ride, the vital importance of humility to intellectual life, and the challenges of interdisciplinary work.
Transcript of this conversation coming soon.
Academy Member William Howell
Dr. Howell discusses why the “humble audacity” of the university’s truth-seeking mission is so challenging to maintain, why we need to invest relationally in the university’s community of learning, and how to avoid “ivory tower” isolationism.
Transcript of this conversation coming soon.
Academy Member Stephen Macedo
Dr. Macedo discusses why political disagreements are intensifying and truth-telling is getting harder, and the complex relationship between democracy and expertise.
Transcript of this conversation coming soon.
Academy Member Bertha Madras
Dr. Madras discusses how high academic standards benefit the disadvantaged and liberate students from ideological control, and the challenges of shared governance in the modern university.
Transcript of this conversation coming soon.
Academy Member Cass Sunstein
Prof. Sunstein discusses how academic inquiry is being affected by new forms of manipulation in the social environment of social media and AI, and the need to cultivate intellectual agency.
Transcript of this conversation coming soon.
Academy Member Noël Valis
Dr. Valis discusses how great literature helps us discover our common humanity, the danger of politicizing the study of literature, and the need for the modern university to develop a clear understanding of its mission.
Transcript of this conversation coming soon.
Academy Member Arieh Warshel
Nobel Laureate Dr. Warshel discusses the reasons people want to control what science finds, ways peer review could be reformed, and how universities can take steps to encourage open inquiry.
Transcript of this conversation coming soon.