Portland State Rejects ‘Conservative Political Thought’ Course

Portland State University has rejected a proposal that would have created a class on “Conservative Political Thought.” According to Portland State, the class “did not support the University commitment to access and inclusion.”

Portland State University has rejected a course proposal from Professor Bruce Gilley, who was seeking to create a course on conservative thought at the university.

Breitbart News reported on Gilley in 2018, when scholars around the globe demanded that his journal article, “The Case For Colonialism,” be pulled from its publication in Third World Quarterly.

In the proposal for the class, Gilley argued that Portland State needs to expand the viewpoint diversity. By including creating the “Conservative Political Thought” course, Gilley intended to provide Portland State students with the perspectives that are not currently offered in other courses.

This will enhance diversity of opinion, ideas, and political viewpoint offerings at PSU. Conservative political thought generally contends that fixed group-based identities are both logically and empirically problematic for political communities. By challenging the “diversity perspective” of group-based identity and victimization/entitlement approaches to political community, it creates a more universal and inclusive citizenry.

Gilley goes on to say that the course will include criticisms of the prevailing “social justice” mindset on campus from black conservatives in the United States. 

It pays particular attention to the diversity of ideas in a pluralistic society and the variety of voices and learning perspectives that come with this.This is a major emphasis of the classroom pedagogy in this course. The class will enable students to be culturally competent in understanding why the “diversity” and “cultural responsiveness” agendas often face determined opposition from groups for whom this is an alleged benefit, including critiques from black conservatives in the U.S.

The course proposal was ultimately rejected by the Portland State administration. In an explanation to Gilley, the administration wrote that the course “did not support the University commitment to access and inclusion.” 

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