The Syllabus American Jewish University

“The SJP doesn't have tunnels under our universities like Hamas has tunnels under Gaza,” ADL director Jonathan Greenblatt tells The Syllabus. “But they were clearly organizing and preparing in a way that really took us by surprise, and I regret that that happened.” In this week's episode of The Syllabus, Greenblatt reflects on the events following October 7 on our college campuses, the ADL's efforts in assessing and improving campus safety for Jewish students, and how the conversation surrounding free speech has evolved. Guest Bio: Jonathan Greenblatt is CEO of ADL (the Anti-Defamation League). Greenblatt joined ADL in 2015 after serving as a special assistant to President Obama. He joined the government after a career in business as a social entrepreneur and corporate executive. In 2022, he published his first book, It Could Happen Here: Why America is Tipping from Hate to the Unthinkable—And How We Can Stop It. Stay informed about this podcast and all of AJU's latest programs and offerings by subscribing to our mailing list HERE (https://www.aju.edu/about-aju/contact-aju) If you'd like to support AJU and this podcast, please consider donating to us at aju.edu/donate (https://open.aju.edu/donate/)

“The modes by which we transmit these beliefs and values are not just like we walk into the room, and we announce, ‘You only get an A if you write a paper that conforms with my preferred worldview,’” says Connecticut College philosopher Simon Feldman. In this week’s episode of The Syllabus, Feldman and his colleague Afshan Jafar join Mark Oppenheimer to talk about what professors’ politics should and should not mean in the classroom—and how the right, they feel, has distorted the topic. Guest Bios: Afshan Jafar: Afshan Jafar is the chair of the sociology department at Connecticut College. Professor Jafar was the 2021 recipient of the Helen B. Regan Faculty Leadership Award, the 2015 recipient of the Feminist Activism Award, and the 2014 recipient of the  Helen  at Connecticut College  at Connecticut College . She is the author of Women’s NGO’s in Pakistan and her public scholarship has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, LA Review of Books, Inside Higher Ed, and Ms. Magazine, among others.  Simon Feldman: Simon Feldman is an associate professor of philosophy at Connecticut College. Feldman received the Connecticut College 2010 John S. King Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching. 

“The system of elite education, which I can define at greater lengths is making kids miserable, and it's producing an elite class that's wrecking the country,” says best-selling author and essayist Bill Deresiewicz in this week’s episode of The Syllabus. Syllabus host Mark Oppenheimer discusses topics in Deresiewicz’s book Excellent Sheep, including societal pressures to attend elite colleges, overwhelming careerism, admissions competition, and increasing inequality in access to education. Guest Bio: William Deresiewicz is an essayist, critic, speaker, and author of the best-seller Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life. Formerly a Yale and Columbia English professor, Deresiewicz transitioned to full-time writing and has taught or lectured at schools including Bard, Scripps, Claremont McKenna, and the University of San Diego. Deresiewicz is also active with Tivnu: Building Justice and Project Wayfinder, promoting social justice and purpose-based learning.Stay informed about this podcast and all of AJU's latest programs and offerings by subscribing to our mailing list HERE (https://www.aju.edu/about-aju/contact-aju) If you'd like to support AJU and this podcast, please consider donating to us at aju.edu/donate (https://open.aju.edu/donate/)

“Our position is you don't need test scores and that individual schools should develop admissions policies that reflect the type of kids they want to recruit and the mission that they have,” says FairTest’s public education director Bob Schaeffer in this week’s episode of The Syllabus. Syllabus host Mark Oppenheimer and Bob Schaeffer discuss the evolution of college admissions testing, the recent trend towards test-optional policies, and whether high school records and holistic evaluations are better predictors of college success than standardized tests.  Guest Bio: Schaeffer is the public education director of FairTest and a member of its board of directors. He is the author of Standardized Tests and Teacher Competence and co-authored many FairTest publications, including Sex Bias in College Admissions Tests: How Women Lose Out. He holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from MIT.

“The most important project, the most important mission, is to form our young men and women to be determined truth seekers and courageous truth speakers,” says Princeton’s McCormick Professorship of Jurisprudence Robert P. George in this week’s episode of The Syllabus. Syllabus host Mark Oppenheimer and Professor George discuss the dual mandate of religiously affiliated universities, concerns about the lack of ideological diversity among faculty, and the decline of humanities departments and liberal colleges. Guest Bio: Bio: Robert P. George is the McCormick Professorship of Jurisprudence and director of the University’s James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton. He is a recipient of the U.S. Presidential Citizens Medal, the Canterbury Medal of the Becket Fund, and Princeton’s President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching. Stay informed about this podcast and all of AJU's latest programs and offerings by subscribing to our mailing list HERE (https://www.aju.edu/about-aju/contact-aju) If you'd like to support AJU and this podcast, please consider donating to us at aju.edu/donate (https://open.aju.edu/donate/)

“You’re going to have to be defending people, sometimes publicly, for saying stuff that you find abhorrent and that you hate. But that’s the gig.” says Alex Morey, director of campus rights advocacy at FIRE, on this week’s episode of The Syllabus. Mark Oppenheimer digs deep with free speech defender extraordinaire Alex Morey, as they discuss the chilling effect of fear and censorship on college campuses—and what the law really has to say. Guest Bio: Alex Morey is an attorney and a journalist who leads FIRE’s Campus Rights Advocacy program, a team of attorneys and advocates. Morey is a member of the First Amendment Lawyers Association. She has a J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School and a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, and has trained at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She attended the University of Arizona in her hometown of Tucson, majoring in journalism and French and graduating with honors. She was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Madagascar, where she taught English in rural, underserved schools. Stay informed about this podcast and all of AJU's latest programs and offerings by subscribing to our mailing list HERE (https://www.aju.edu/about-aju/contact-aju) If you'd like to support AJU and this podcast, please consider donating to us at aju.edu/donate (https://open.aju.edu/donate/)