The problem of censorship in the sciences is not something that can be resolved from external forces — the ultimate solution must come from the scholars themselves, argues the co-organizer of an upcoming conference on the matter.
“I think some legislative pressure from the top might help, but for the most part it is the work that academics should do themselves,” said USC chemist Anna Krylov, who will help lead the upcoming three-day conference “Censorship in the Sciences: Interdisciplinary Perspectives.”
“You cannot have legislation fixing scientific journals,” she said in an interview with The College Fix. “It’s the scientific community that should stand against censorship, go on journal boards, and remove people from institutions that are censorious.”
But to resolve the problem of censorship, it must be better understood, which is why the conference is taking an interdisciplinary approach, Krylov said.
“Censorship is quite widespread nowadays, including in hardcore science. We believe that it’s a phenomenon that is not well understood scientifically,” she said. “When people hear censorship, they think of an authoritarian regime, but what happens now in academia, often it’s censorship imposed by peers. We are interested in this phenomenon [of] modern censorship.”
The conference, scheduled for Jan. 10 to 12 at the University of Southern California, will boast scholars not only from STEM but also political science, social science, philosophy, ethics and others.
“We wanted to look at this problem of censorship from different angles,” Krylov said.
The conference is open to the public. Anyone can register on a first-come first-served basis, but with limited capacity it will also be live-streamed and recorded.
“By bringing together experts with widely varying perspectives on censorship from within the natural sciences, social sciences, philosophy, humanities, and law we aim to host a civil conversation regarding these different perspectives and sharpen the understanding of what is and is not scientific censorship and when it may and may not be justified,” the conference website states.
Planned panels include “The War on Truth—And How to Win It” by public policy and culture expert Jonathan Rauch and “Your Paper Was Retracted. Were You Censored, or Just Wrong?” by famed medical researcher and journalist Dr. Ivan Oransky.
Other panel topics include: “Censorship and Self-Imposed Ethical Constraints in Research,” “Socially Responsible Science,” “Harms-Justified Censorship,” “Is Compelled Speech a Form of Censorship,” “Harms of Censorship: Covid Examples,” “Truth, Lies, and Climate Change,” among others.
Conference proceedings will also be published in a special issue of the Journal of Controversial Ideas.
In addition to Krylov, organizers include several scholars from the USC Center for Economic and Social Research, as well as Rutgers Professor Lee Jussim and Stanford Professor Ivan Marinovic.
“The participants include academics, public intellectuals, acclaimed authors, representatives of various organizations championing free speech and academic freedom, Retraction Watch, publishers, as well as scientists who have experienced censorship first hand,” the conference website states.
Krylov said the panelists don’t all agree on the problem, or solution — and that’s a good thing. At the end of the day, the conference will raise awareness and encourage solutions, she said.
“We hope to make a strong case that serious research is needed, and there are a lot of interesting questions to discuss,” she said.
Supporters of the conference include the American Academy of Sciences and Letters, Heterodox Academy, Institute for Humane Studies, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, the Academic Freedom Alliance, the USC Center for Economic and Social Research, the Institute for Humane Studies, Cornell Free Speech Alliance, and MIT Free Speech Alliance.
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IMAGE: USC website screenshot
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