This week Jennifer Richmond and Brandy Shufutinsky speak with Sarah Mchlaughlin on her recently released book – Authoritarians in the Academy. As universities are run more and more like corporations with increasing numbers of administrators, priorities have shifted. As part of this shift, we often see universities making financial decisions that can be at odds with their values, namely freedom of speech. This includes not only US university campuses that operate overseas in places like China and Qatar, but also on our home turf. In order to appease financial partnerships Sarah has found that American universities have become increasingly censorious. In some cases, this censorship is to protect overseas students who face harsh recrimination for speaking out on American campuses in their home country, but in many more cases the calculation is monetary. So, what can we do to roll back these trends? Sarah shares several suggestions, including whistleblower protections, transparent speech codes, and programs that educate vulnerable students on how to exercise their freedom anonymously, when necessary.
Please consider donating to the Institute for Liberal Values, a 501c3 non-profit organization at ilvalues.org. All donations go to support our continued programming to realize our mission to provide the skills and support required to build community where there has been division, encourage free expression where there has been censorship, and foster optimism where there is fear.
*To sponsor a specific event with your name or logo, please reach out directly to admin@ilvalues.org*
Join us on September 4 at 7pm ET for our Liberalism in Practice Panel Discussion - Beyond the Panel: Implementing Pluralistic Practice in Social Work Education.
Building on the foundational discussions from the 2025 Heterodox Academy Conference panel "Promoting Pluralism in Practice," this follow-up session examines the practical challenges and opportunities that emerge when translating pluralistic principles into real-world social work contexts. While the initial panel established the theoretical framework for fostering viewpoint diversity and intellectual humility within the profession, this discussion delves deeper into the implementation barriers and systemic changes needed to sustain these approaches. Panelists will present case studies and lessons learned from early adopters who have begun integrating pluralistic methodologies into their educational curricula, clinical practice, and organizational structures, addressing critical questions about navigating institutional resistance, developing effective pedagogical innovations, and creating supportive environments for constructive disagreement while maintaining professional standards. Drawing from ongoing initiatives by ProSocial Workers, the Institute for Liberal Values, and partner organizations, participants will engage with practical strategies for building coalitions across ideological divides, managing conflict in multidisciplinary teams, and measuring the impact of pluralistic approaches on client outcomes and professional satisfaction, concluding with a roadmap for expanding these practices and sustaining momentum within the broader social work community.
Share this post