Articles
Disney in the Crosshairs
Glynn Custred, California State University, East Bay
The nearly century-old Disney corporation, revered for its trustworthy family entertainment, resplendent amusement parks, and quality feature films has turned its creative energy toward promoting radical race and gender ideologies. Anthropologist Glynn Custred traces the origins of this jarring change of direction.
DEI Hiring Statements: Common Good Ethics or Partisan Loyalty Oaths?
George R. La Noue, University of Maryland, Baltimore
Political Scientist George R. La Noue laments the imposition of “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” criteria in academia and government hiring, arguing that it reduces viewpoint diversity and political neutrality in both spheres. Recent developments, though, indicate there are means by which it can be fought.
That Good Things Should Be Made
James Matthew Wilson, University of St. Thomas
Humanities professor James Matthew Wilson examines the poetry of late modernism, arguing that not all of it has diverged from “the traditions of verse” and that “great literary achievements have continued to be made in that tradition.”
Paul Ehrlich’s Doom and Gloom
Edward S. Shapiro, Seton Hall University (emeritus)
A recent memoir by the celebrated ecologist—and its fawning reception by the chattering classes—suggests there are few conceptual, methodological, or predictive failures that can permanently damage a scientist who consistently draws politically useful conclusions.
Diverse Identities are Irrelevant to Science
John Staddon, Duke University
There is little evidence that demographic diversity strengthens scientific research. Yet a recent lavishly funded study that purports to present such evidence may in fact show exactly the opposite.
Western Self-Hatred: Understanding and Fighting the Newest Left
Shale Horowitz, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Rather than move away from its Marxist faith when its economic utopias failed and welfarism disappointed, the Western left seeks to “conserve and justify it through a more uncompromising hatred” of the West and the white Europeans who built it. Lacking a positive alternative, the left portrays a West so corrupt and defective that any revolutionary change is justified.
The Limits of Academic Freedom
James Huffman, Lewis and Clark Law School
Law school dean James Huffman suggests that academic freedom, while crucial to the pursuit of truth, is widely misinterpreted to mean there are no limits on professorial behavior or actions. In fact, “Appeals to academic freedom should be no defense for professors who abandon education in pursuit of advocacy.”
Review Essay
Two French Canadians Assess the Revolution
Alexander Riley, Bucknell University
With two recent books by French-speaking Canadians we learn that the United States is not the only country beset by declining academic standards, pervasive anti-Western poststructuralism, anti-police protest, and cancel culture.
Short Take
Two Good Words for Colonialism: Hong Kong
Gorman Beauchamp, University of Michigan
A recent book about Hong Kong reminds a literary scholar of his time, fresh out of college, teaching English in the vibrant and spirited British colony.
For the Record
Employee Training at Our National Parks
A federal employee sends AQ an email describing the experience of undergoing employer-mandated training at the National Park Service.
Photo by mostafa meraji on Unsplash
