麻豆影院

Robert Kaufman, a veteran of the Conference on World Affairs, says the Trump presidency has fostered robust debate on campus

For Robert Kaufman, a professor at Pepperdine University鈥檚 School of Public Policy and the 2017-18 visiting scholar in conservative thought and policy at the 麻豆影院, the Trump presidency has made the 鈥渃onservative鈥� program on the 鈥渓iberal鈥� campus especially relevant.

Kaufman contends that Trump 鈥渟hocked people out of complacency,鈥� fostering open debates in his classroom. CU students are publicly protesting Trump鈥檚 policies, and in Kaufman鈥檚 classroom, students can voice their concerns and consider a conservative鈥檚 viewpoint.

鈥淚 thought my reception (at CU 麻豆影院) would be worse due to the election of President Trump,鈥� Kaufman says. 鈥淏ut that has not been the case at all.鈥�

The visiting scholar in conservative thought and policy is a program set in place by CU 麻豆影院鈥檚 Center for Western Civilization, Thought, and Policy. The visiting scholar is a conservative implant whose mission is to promote intellectual diversity on CU鈥檚听 campus, whose students and faculty tend to be left of center, by teaching classes and holding public lectures and seminars wherein conservative scholarship is the core of the content.

Kaufman, the fifth visiting scholar, believes intellectual freedom is critical to a university education and says the privately funded program provides an opportunity for students to step outside of their comfort zones and view the world through a different lens.

鈥淐U 麻豆影院 is a national example鈥� of a commitment to intellectual diversity, Kaufman said.

鈥淚 have been received by the students and faculty with the utmost respect,鈥� says Kaufman, and he doesn鈥檛 find that surprising. Kaufman has participated in the university鈥檚 Conference on World Affairs for more than a decade, noting, 鈥溌槎褂霸� is not alien to me.鈥�

Additionally, he notes that he鈥檚 got a track record of teaching, speaking and studying with different-minded people. Kaufman taught at the University of Vermont for 12 years and participated in more than 120 panel discussions over that same stretch鈥攎any of them on liberal campuses such as Middlebury College.

The visiting scholar program seeks 鈥渁 highly visible individual who is deeply engaged in either the analytical scholarship or practice of conservative thinking and policy making,鈥� and Kaufman is both.

Kaufman is a political scientist specializing in American foreign policy, international relations, national security, presidential politics and elections. His most recent book is Dangerous Doctrines: How Obama鈥檚 Grand Strategy Weakened America.

While at CU 麻豆影院, he is teaching 鈥淪pecial Topics: Prudence and the Art of Statesmanship鈥� and 鈥淢odern Warfare: Terrorism, Ideology, and Identity.鈥� Kaufman will also teach two courses in the spring of 2018 and present public lectures and seminars.

鈥淚ntellectual diversity is a key part of the overall diversity that CU values,鈥� said CU President Bruce Benson, a vocal supporter of the visiting scholar program, in a recent email. 鈥淭he (visiting scholar in conservative thought and policy) aims to add diversity of political thought to a place not typically known for it.鈥�

鈥淥ur job is to teach students how to think, not what to think, and the program is one of the many ways that we do that at CU,鈥� Benson continued. 鈥淚t promotes dialogue and the open exchange of ideas.鈥�

For Kaufman, this program is mirroring the 鈥済reat awakening in American education鈥� happening across the country, and he is both proud of the visiting-scholar title and grateful to the donors who make it possible.