How one class at Tufts taught liberal students to have an open mind

At a moment when most of higher education in America seems determined to add to its DEI course offerings, including in math and science, Tufts University deserves credit for going in a whole different direction.

Last fall, the Boston-area private liberal arts college initiated a class called American Conservatism. The class, taught by a modern Orthodox Jewish professor named Eitan Hersch, was his response to the fact that there was nothing like it on offer at Tufts.

In an article titled “A Conservative Thought Experiment on a Liberal Campus,” Boston Magazine in its April 2024 issue reported on how the class helped liberal and left-leaning students appreciate debate and open-minded discourse.

The semester began with a discussion of the Cold War, a moment in which the U.S. was at its apex of power post WWII. Good and evil seemed clear, and conservative thinkers like William Buckley were setting out the premises of modern American conservatism.