Jonathan Potter
@JonathanPotter6
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Academic & former dean. Taught and researched at Rutgers, Loughborough, and St Andrews. US/UK universities, Now found on: @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
Lewes, E. Sussex, UK
Joined May 2012
Listening to Rest is Politics/US and reading other commentators, it's striking how widely talk of "left-wing bias" in universities has taken hold. That matters - when academia is under political attack. Some thoughts from someone who worked inside major US and UK universities.🧵.
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RT @RutgersCommInfo: 🚀 Exciting news from Rutgers University–New Brunswick! 🌟 Chancellor Francine Conway announces Mark Aakhus as Interim D….
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Turn old photos into videos and see friends and family come to life. Try Grok Imagine, free for a limited time.
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Aija Logren kicks off the Finnish Social Psychology conference. An exciting group!.@alexahepburn
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In lovely Kuopio getting ready for the Finnish Social Psychology Conference. Exciting!.@alexahepburn .@RucalTeam .#emotionography
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RT @samwetherell: Lovely and lyrical review of my book alongside @davidswift87's Scouse Republic in the Literary Review this week by @ajlee….
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There is an increasingly common and very lazy notion that universities are left biased. That needs countering as universities are under attack in the US but also elsewhere. I wrote a thread about it. 👇.
Listening to Rest is Politics/US and reading other commentators, it's striking how widely talk of "left-wing bias" in universities has taken hold. That matters - when academia is under political attack. Some thoughts from someone who worked inside major US and UK universities.🧵.
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Universities aren’t “biased” because they care about inequality or social justice. They’re biased toward evidence. Toward facts. Especially in the US, careless talk of “left-wing bias” invites real damage. Thoughts from US/UK experience here: 👇.
Listening to Rest is Politics/US and reading other commentators, it's striking how widely talk of "left-wing bias" in universities has taken hold. That matters - when academia is under political attack. Some thoughts from someone who worked inside major US and UK universities.🧵.
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Universities aren't biased toward left-wing politics — they're biased toward knowledge. Thoughts here 👇.
Listening to Rest is Politics/US and reading other commentators, it's striking how widely talk of "left-wing bias" in universities has taken hold. That matters - when academia is under political attack. Some thoughts from someone who worked inside major US and UK universities.🧵.
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Serious conservative arguments are welcome - but like everything in universities, they must meet the same standards: evidence, coherence, and rigor. 12/.
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Calls for 'balance' between evidence and baseless denial don't protect free speech — they undermine intellectual rigor. Universities thrive on serious, evidence-based challenges, not superficial parity. 11/.
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DEI hiring has strengthened universities. In both the US and UK, there’s a highly qualified, historically excluded pool of scholars. Hiring them raises the quality of academic life – it doesn’t dilute it. 10/.
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It’s not surprising that higher education correlates with support for parties addressing inequality and diversity. It reflects informed engagement with the world, not partisan bias. 9/.
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Many entered academia because they care about ideas, education, and human betterment – not to wage ideological battles. 8/.
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Academics are educated in hard histories: slavery, empire, LGBTQ+ persecution, systemic discrimination. Being “woke” often means facing uncomfortable truths, not following ideological fashion. 7/.
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Faculty are closely engaged with students from diverse backgrounds (though with a middle-class skew in both countries). Their understanding of inequality isn’t abstract - it’s daily and personal. 6/.
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Inequality, racism, poverty, and social change aren’t “left-wing causes.” They are realities, extensively documented in research – in both the US and UK. Critics are free to challenge the evidence - but must do so seriously. 5/.
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Populist thinking struggles to get a foothold in academia because it dodges facts, rejects trustworthy sources, and offers untestable assertions. Rejecting it is not bias; it is standards doing their job. 4/.
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Academia has produced plenty of sophisticated conservative scholarship in politics, philosophy, economics, and social theory. What counts is rigor, coherence, and evidence – not ideology. 3/.
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University research isn’t just opinion. It involves building evidence-based arguments, tested through peer review and serious critique. That's a much higher bar than casual commentary. 2/.
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Adding some tags in case of interest and response:.@KattyKay_ @campbellclaret @RoryStewartUK @timeshighered @chronicle @insidehighered @AAUP @PENamerica.
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