Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
A statement of principles is the easy part. The hard part is everything after.
This opening session from the Heterodox Academy Mountain West Regional Conference at the University of Wyoming pairs a farewell with a challenge. Outgoing UW President Ed Seidel reflects on the journey behind the University of Wyoming's Statement of Principles, from the Skokie case that shaped his view of the First Amendment to the commission of skeptics, legislators, and citizens he built to take an honest look in the mirror.
Then UW's Matt Burgess hosts "Modest Proposals," a round of two-minute lightning talks where scholars each pitch one concrete idea for building trustworthy universities, from a scholar's code of ethics to raising the cost of censorship.
Chapters
0:00 Martha McCaughey presents Ed Seidel his "best worst idea"
2:19 Ed Seidel: the First Amendment, Skokie, and building UW's principles
13:15 Matt Burgess introduces the "Modest Proposals" lightning talks
17:48 Martha McCaughey: a scholar's code of ethics
20:37 Martín Carcasson: make wisdom and judgment the north star
24:09 Brian Hanley: quality-control methods to measure real learning
27:17 Hannah Wolfman-Jones: open inquiry needs open-source software
30:01 Spencer Pelton: a frustrated archaeologist's message to anthropology
33:48 Jennifer Harmon: celebrate what changed our minds
38:11 Bob Maranto: raise the cost of censorship
42:08 Steve McGuire: trustees should lead reform
44:32 Matt Burgess: academic freedom and shared governance, use them or lose them
#HeterodoxAcademy #OpenInquiry #AcademicFreedom #HigherEd #FreeExpression #ViewpointDiversity #UniversityOfWyoming
A statement of principles is the easy part. The hard part is everything after.
This opening session from the Heterodox Academy Mountain West Regional Conference at the University of Wyoming pairs a farewell with a challenge. Outgoing UW President Ed Seidel reflects on the journey behind the University of Wyoming's Statement of Principles, from the Skokie case that shaped his view of the First Amendment to the commission of skeptics, legislators, and citizens he built to take an honest look in the mirror.
Then UW's Matt Burgess hosts "Modest Proposals," a round of two-minute lightning talks where scholars each pitch one concrete idea for building trustworthy universities, from a scholar's code of ethics to raising the cost of censorship.
Chapters
0:00 Martha McCaughey presents Ed Seidel his "best worst idea"
2:19 Ed Seidel: the First Amendment, Skokie, and building UW's principles
13:15 Matt Burgess introduces the "Modest Proposals" lightning talks
17:48 Martha McCaughey: a scholar's code of ethics
20:37 Martín Carcasson: make wisdom and judgment the north star
24:09 Brian Hanley: quality-control methods to measure real learning
27:17 Hannah Wolfman-Jones: open inquiry needs open-source software
30:01 Spencer Pelton: a frustrated archaeologist's message to anthropology
33:48 Jennifer Harmon: celebrate what changed our minds
38:11 Bob Maranto: raise the cost of censorship
42:08 Steve McGuire: trustees should lead reform
44:32 Matt Burgess: academic freedom and shared governance, use them or lose them
#HeterodoxAcademy #OpenInquiry #AcademicFreedom #HigherEd #FreeExpression #ViewpointDiversity #UniversityOfWyoming
