We can’t seem to accept that terribly gifted people can do terrible things.Â
Jonathan Zimmerman
Jonathan Zimmerman teaches education and history at the University of Pennsylvania and serves on the advisory board of the Albert Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest.
Posted inPolitics
Don’t Shut Down Free Speech in Charlie Kirk’s Name
The slain conservative activist was a vigorous debater in the public square. Silencing discourse in Kirk’s name betrays the 31-year-old’s legacy as would canceling those criticizing his views.
Posted inHigher Education
Academic Freedom: How Universities Lost Their Way
A canceled issue of a Harvard scholarly journal illustrates the dangers of the Trump era.
Posted inCollege Guide
Why Professors Can’t Teach
For as long as universities have existed, academics have struggled to impart their knowledge to students. The failing is fixable—if Washington demands it.
Posted inHigher Education
Canceling Liz Magill Will Be Bad News for Free Speech
The firing of University of Pennsylvania is bad for free speech and will also hurt those combattingg antisemitism.
Posted inSeptember/October 2023
Higher Ed’s Founding PromiseÂ
From colonial schools to the land grant era, America’s universities pledged to serve the public by making college affordable. It’s time to hold them to it.
Posted inEducation
The Wars on Free Speech
Red-state legislatures clamping down on free speech are horrifying. It’s time for liberals to finally take campus censorship seriously.
Posted inPolitics
The West Side Story Reboot That We Really Need
Steven Spielberg’s vibrant remake of the 1960s classic doesn’t address our deepest division—the Trump line.
Posted inEducation
Socrates, Jefferson, and Bryan at the School Board Meeting
A conversation among three great figures about why we’re so divided over education.
Posted inPolitical Animal, Politics
Race, Free Speech, and the Purge of Campus Blasphemers
At a New York City college, a professor is dismissed shortly after using the N-word in an academic discussion of Mark Twain.
