Over the last two years we have seen learners, workers, families, and educators encounter seemingly insurmountable barriers in education. They responded with resiliency, ingenuity, and innovation. As we said in our 2020 year-in-review, we knew this perseverance and creativity would persist throughout the pandemic and beyond. People want innovative solutions that empower learners to discover, develop, … Continued
Science is revered for being objective and open-minded, influenced solely by experiments, the scientific method, and data, and not by ideology, bias, and personal interests. The sociologist Thomas Merton famously captured this “ethos”: science, he said, is driven by the imperatives of disinterestedness, universalism, communalism, and organized skepticism. Most (and the best) scientists strive to achieve … Continued
Do you ever wonder what you can do to reduce political polarization in our society? Consider embracing principled dissent. For every contentious issue, some people seem to see those with opposing views as an enemy to be defeated. There is little tolerance for dissent — especially when political or legislative victory is on the line. … Continued
The public conversation about immigration in the United States is often focused on the false choice between welcoming migrants and securing future economic prosperity and public safety. Cornell University Professor of Immigration Law Stephen Yale-Loehr is challenging this thinking and developing policy recommendations that will improve the current U.S. immigration system for the benefit of both … Continued
Millions of Americans left their jobs in September, and one reason is unhappiness. They don’t feel connected to, or fulfilled by, their work. Indeed, more than one-third of Americans are in jobs that don’t match their skills — a problem that drives job dissatisfaction. In a column in Governing, Charles Koch Foundation (CKF) Executive Director Ryan … Continued
For more than a decade, the George Washington University Regulatory Studies Center has worked to raise awareness of the effects of regulation and to improve regulatory policy. Regulatory policy may seem like an arcane topic, but it affects virtually every aspect of our lives. While government rules can address important public goals, they can harm productivity and inhibit human flourishing if carelessly targeted and poorly designed. The George Washington (GW) University … Continued
When asked for their thoughts on free speech, most Americans embrace it and believe it is fundamental in a democracy. Survey after survey reveals that people across time and demographics overwhelmingly support First Amendment rights. Dig a layer deeper though, and the feelings are more complex. This phenomenon isn’t unique to free speech. In practice, … Continued
In a new report, national free speech organization PEN America highlights the Charles Koch Foundation’s (CKF) work to protect academic freedom. The analysis received extensive coverage, including a story in The New York Times. Readers of the report will have different perspectives about the state-level trends detailed by the authors, — but the report itself is a reminder of the diverse … Continued
This essay by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks was first published in January 2018 and is extracted from Judaism’s Life-Changing Ideas: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks (Jerusalem: Maggid Books, 2020). I have become increasingly concerned about the assault on free speech taking place throughout the West, particularly in university campuses. This … Continued
American higher education has long been marked by its openness — openness to people of different backgrounds bringing forward different ideas, backed by evidence. This openness inevitably yields a natural tension between new ideas and established orthodoxies. Healthy societies harness this tension because doing so can drive learning, creativity, and innovation not just for students, … Continued
