UK part of Heterodox Academy’s inaugural Campus Community Network cohort By Kristi Willett
Heterodox Academy (HxA), a nonpartisan organization dedicated to improving institutions of higher education by advocating for principles of open inquiry and constructive disagreement, has announced the launch of their Campus Community Network. The inaugural cohort is made up of 23 HxA Campus Communities, including the University of Kentucky, MIT, UC Berkeley and McGill University.
The Campus Community Network aims to change campus culture and institutional practices by empowering members to promote HxA values. Each Campus Community will be led by several HxA member co-chairs who are faculty, staff or graduate students at the university. With the support of HxA, the co-chairs will foster a community of academics to organize events, host monthly gatherings, and collaborate with leaders on their campuses.
Four UK co-chairs have been named including Erin Hester, assistant professor, UK College of Communication and Information; Tim Minella, lecturer, Lewis Honors College; Leon Sachs, associate professor, College of Arts and Sciences; and Dimitry Strakovsky, associate professor, School of Art and Visual Studies, College of Fine Arts. In this role, the co-chairs will be promoting undergraduate participation in this initiative.
The Campus Community Network is a natural extension of the virtual HxCommunities launched in 2018, now totaling 26 communities with nearly 3,000 participants. The new Campus Communities will give HxA members opportunities to work directly on their campuses with peers and supporters to foster positive culture change. Each Campus Community will receive at least $3,000 in program expenses from HxA to support activities in their first year, and intensive consulting from HxA staff, in addition to peer support from across the Network.
The HxA Campus Communities Network Inaugural Cohort includes:
- Boise State University
- Chapman University
- Cornell University
- Johns Hopkins University
- Linn-Benton Community College
- Louisiana State University
- Loyola University Chicago
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- McGill University
- Samford University
- Seton Hall University
- University of Alabama in Huntsville
- University of California, Berkeley
- University of California, Riverside
- University of Colorado Boulder
- University of Denver
- University of Kentucky
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- University of North Carolina at Charlotte
- University of South Carolina
- University of Toronto
- University of Virginia
- Western Michigan University
To learn more, go to https://heterodoxacademy.org/campus-communities/.