spiked-online.com/2019/11/12/cam… "Both students and academics seem to be prone to..‘preference falsification’.. one’s true opinion is withheld in favour of a more socially acceptable declaration. This is why the authors of the..report emphasise the dangers of a ‘culture of conformity’."
"With faculty members so blind to the need for alternative voices, is it any wonder that some students..follow suit? Free speech is increasingly perceived as the domain of the right, so it is hardly surprising that academics are failing to defend..a non-partisan principle"
"it is now undeniable that on most campuses there exists a small body of activists – most notably those who seek positions in students’ unions – who are hostile to alternative ways of thinking and who like to conflate speech with violence."
"The problem lies with the rise of a new kind of identity politics, one in which one’s sense of self-worth is inextricably bound up with a particular worldview. In such circumstances, a political disagreement can represent an acute threat to one’s emotional wellbeing...
...To be disabused of a long-held conviction can prompt what is known as an ‘identity quake’, by which one’s core beliefs are suddenly destabilised. Some students..perceive the very process of education as carrying with it the possibility of a traumatic disruption"
"the university experience is not about reinforcing existing beliefs, but subjecting them to scrutiny. In spite of the more alarmist headlines that this recent Policy Exchange report has generated, most students are still keen to be challenged...
...At the same time, they are living through a time in which they are repeatedly assured that their emotional needs must take precedence over all other considerations..we need to break down this culture of conformity and initiate practical policies to defend academic freedom"
