根据新报告，许多哈佛教授和学生不敢说出自己的想法
【中美创新时报2024 年 10 月 2 日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）接受调查的哈佛教授和学生中，近一半害怕在校园表达自己的观点，他们担心社交媒体上的批评、名誉受损或面临歧视和骚扰投诉的风险。《波士顿环球报》记者希拉里·伯恩斯（Hilary Burns）和麦克·达米亚诺（Mike Damiano）对此作了下述报道。
周二发布的这份报告由一个负责研究校园氛围的工作组撰写，该工作组由哈佛大学校长艾伦·加伯 (Alan Garber) 于六个月前成立，重点介绍了常春藤盟校可以改善“活跃的智力交流”环境的方式。
该小组发现，51% 的受访教职员工表示，他们非常或有些不愿意就有争议的话题主持课堂讨论。同样，45% 的受访学生表示，他们不太愿意或非常不愿意在课堂上分享他们对有争议问题的看法。在学术工作方面，41% 的教职员工表示，他们不太愿意或非常不愿意研究有争议的课题。
加伯在周二向社区发表的讲话中确认收到了该组织的建议，并表示他期待“与院长、教职员工和学生合作，将这些建议付诸实践”。这些建议包括强制课堂保密；审查歧视、欺凌和骚扰政策，以更好地保护学术自由；表彰那些熟练处理有争议话题的教师；制定负责任的社交媒体使用政策。
这份报告是在 10 月 7 日哈马斯领导的对以色列的袭击之后，哈佛大学和全国其他精英校园经历了动荡的学年之后发布的。中东冲突导致校园内爆发大规模反以色列抗议活动，人们担心反犹太主义抬头，有报道称，学生和教授难以参与有关世界上一些最有争议话题的文明辩论。
今年早些时候，一个单独的工作组建议哈佛大学采取机构中立政策，这意味着除非时事直接影响到大学业务，否则它将不再发表有关时事的声明。
“这些都是我们在校园里面临的真正棘手的问题，”哈佛拉德克利夫研究所院长、开放探究和建设性对话工作组联合主席 Tomiko Brown-Nagin 表示。“我希望这份报告能激励我们，并让我们认识到，我们必须能够相互交流，即使是最痛苦、最困难、最有分歧的问题。我谨慎乐观地认为我们能够做到这一点。”
该工作组与 600 多名哈佛教育工作者、学生、管理人员和哈佛校友会代表举行了听证会。该组织还对全校数千名学生、教职员工和讲师进行了调查。
总体而言，该组织发现，人们普遍不愿公开谈论有争议的话题。报告称：“鉴于讨论具有挑战性的问题对于教育卓越至关重要，学生、教职员工或讲师不愿充分参与此类交流，可能会阻碍公开的探究和建设性的对话。”
报告称，一些教授和讲师对“课堂监控表示担忧，因为课堂上录音设备和摄像头泛滥成灾”。他们担心学生可能会在社交媒体上发布他们对有争议话题的言论的视频。学生们还担心他们的评论可能会被发布在社交媒体上，包括充斥着仇恨评论的匿名平台，如 Sidechat。
一些教授还表示，“严格的教学可能会对教学评估产生不利影响”，而教学评估是晋升决定的因素。
哈佛大学哲学教授、本科生研究主任爱德华·霍尔 (Edward Hall) 表示，工作组的关键问题是：“我们如何让学生和教师以有意义的方式跨越分歧，而不是自我审查、躲在自己的角落或互相大喊大叫？”
“自我审查猖獗，”霍尔说道，她也是哈佛大学学术自由委员会的联合主席。“我听说有些教职员工在课堂上讨论有争议的话题时，既紧张又害怕，因为可能会遭到反弹。”
许多学生也有类似的担忧，他们担心如果表达对有争议话题的看法，他们会面临同学的评判或社交媒体的批评。去年，哈佛大学大四学生希拉·霍弗发现，她的许多同学都渴望了解巴以冲突的信息，但又担心谈论这个话题。
“人们甚至害怕提问，因为害怕被评判，”她说。她设立了一条短信热线，她和其他来自不同背景的志愿者在那里提供关于冲突的不同观点。他们很快就收到了来自全国各地的数百条信息。
“我不认为这是哈佛大学独有的问题，”她说。“我认为这是我们在全国各地都看到的问题。”
大二学生查理·科维特 (Charlie Covit) 表示，他通常觉得在哈佛课堂上分享自己的观点很自在，但他表示，他不会选修那些“有不宽容记录”或“对我关心的问题持敌对观点”的教授的课程。他说，许多学生害怕分享不符合“自由正统观念”的观点，并补充说，去年许多犹太学生被亲巴勒斯坦团体贴上了“种族灭绝支持者”的标签，环境恶化了。
科维特说：“‘你不同意我们的观点，所以你是大屠杀的同谋’就是极端不宽容的一个例子。”
其他哈佛学生表示，近几个月来，他们因表达亲巴勒斯坦的观点而遭到强烈反对。
新报告提出了一些策略，可以帮助人们学习和讨论有争议的话题，包括教授在课程开始时使用匿名投票来向学生展示“同学们对该话题的看法范围”。
报告称：“匿名调查结果的分享是为了确定个人可能会以不同的视角参与课堂讨论，讨论有争议的问题。”“有了这些信息，学生们就可以自由发言，表达对有争议的话题的一系列观点，而且这种可能性更大。”
报告还建议教师尝试为学生指定立场或论点。
“这种方法可以教授多种观点，促进同理心，并防止同学认为课堂上的立场反映了个人信仰，”报告说。
哈佛大学政府学教授、工作组联合主席埃里克·比尔博姆 (Eric Beerbohm) 表示，让学生和教授在校园里感受到信任和归属感很重要，这样他们才能放心地畅所欲言。
“我们很幸运能有四年的住宿经历，人们可以与同学建立关键联系，”比尔博姆说。“我们要做的就是思考这些关系中发生了什么，并思考如何将这些技巧更直接地带入课堂。”
布朗-纳金表示，哈佛面临的挑战至少在一定程度上反映了校园近几十年来变得更加多元化的“成长烦恼”，学生和教职员工来自世界各地，有着不同的世界观和经历。
“我认为这项努力是持续努力创建所有成员都能茁壮成长的校园的一部分，”布朗-纳金说。“我很高兴参与其中并做出这样的努力。”
题图：报告称，一些教授和讲师对“课堂监控表示担忧，因为课堂上录音设备和摄像头泛滥”。Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff
附原英文报道：
Many Harvard professors and students afraid to speak their minds, according to new report
By Hilary Burns and Mike Damiano Globe Staff,Updated October 1, 2024
Some professors and instructors expressed concern about “classroom surveillance, given the proliferation of recording devices and cameras in class,” the report said.Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff
Close to half of Harvard professors and students surveyed for a report are afraid to express their views on campus, citing fear of criticism on social media, damage to their reputations, or the risk of discrimination and harassment complaints.
The report released Tuesday, written by a working group tasked with studying the campus climate and formed by Harvard president Alan Garber six months ago, highlights ways the Ivy League school can improve the environment for “robust intellectual exchanges.”
The group found that 51 percent of surveyed faculty and staff reported they would feel very or somewhat reluctant to lead a classroom discussion on a controversial topic. Likewise, 45 percent of students surveyed said they were somewhat reluctant or very reluctant to share their views on controversial issues in the classroom. With regards to academic work, 41 percent of faculty and staff said they were somewhat reluctant or very reluctant to research a controversial subject.
Garber confirmed receiving the group’s recommendations in a Tuesday message to the community, and said he looks forward to “working with the deans, faculty, staff, and students to put them into practice.” The recommendations include mandating confidentiality in classrooms; reviewing discrimination, bullying, and harassment policies to better protect academic freedom; celebrating instructors who adeptly navigate controversial topics; and enacting responsible social media use policies.
The report follows a turbulent academic year for Harvard and other elite campuses across the country after the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel. The conflict in the Middle East led to widespread campus protests against Israel, concerns about rising antisemitism, and reports that students and professors struggled to partake in civil debate about some of the world’s most contentious topics.
Earlier this year, a separate working group recommended Harvard adopt a policy of institutional neutrality, meaning it will no longer issue statements about current events unless they directly affect university business.
“These are really hard issues that we’re confronting on our campuses,” said Tomiko Brown-Nagin, dean of the Harvard Radcliffe Institute and cochair of the Open Inquiry and Constructive Dialogue working group. “I hope that this report will galvanize us and and make the point that we have to be able to engage with one another, around even the most painful, difficult, divisive issues. I am cautiously optimistic that we’ll be able to do so.”
The working group held listening sessions with more than 600 Harvard educators, students, administrators, and Harvard Alumni Association representatives. The group also surveyed thousands of students, faculty members, and instructors across the university.
Overall, the group found widespread hesitance to speak openly about controversial topics. “Given that discourse about challenging issues is crucial to educational excellence, the reluctance expressed by students, faculty, or instructors to participate fully in such exchanges can chill open inquiry and constructive dialogue,” the report said.
Some professors and instructors expressed concern about “classroom surveillance, given the proliferation of recording devices and cameras in class,” the report said. They were worried students might post videos of their statements on controversial topics on social media. Students also feared their comments could be posted on social media, including anonymous platforms such as Sidechat that are rife with hateful comments.
Some professors also said “rigorous teaching could adversely affect teaching evaluations,” which factor into promotion decisions.
The key question for the working group, said Edward Hall, a Harvard philosophy professor and the director of undergraduate studies, is: “How do we get our students and faculty to engage with each other across disagreement in a meaningful way instead of self-censoring or going off into their own corners or shouting at each other?”
“Self-censorship is rampant,” said Hall, who is also co-president of the Council on Academic Freedom at Harvard. “I’ve heard from faculty who are somewhere between nervous and downright terrified of broaching controversial subjects in their classrooms because of possible blowback.”
Many students have similar concerns, fearing they will face judgment from their peers or social media criticism if they express opinions on controversial topics. Last year, Shira Hoffer, a Harvard senior, found that many of her classmates were eager for information about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but were worried about broaching the topic.
“People are afraid of even asking questions for fear of being judged,” she said. She set up a text hot line where she and other volunteers from a range of backgrounds offer a diversity of views about the conflict. They were soon inundated with hundreds of messages from people around the country.
“I don’t think it’s a problem unique to Harvard,” she said. “I think it’s a problem we’re seeing across the country.”
Charlie Covit, a sophomore, said he generally feels comfortable sharing his views in Harvard classrooms, but said he avoids enrolling in classes with professors who have “records of intolerance” or “hostile views on issues I care about.” He said many students fear sharing views that do not conform with “liberal orthodoxy,” and added the environment has worsened in the last year for many Jewish students who have been labeled as “supporters of genocide” by pro-Palestinian groups.
“‘You don’t agree with us so you are complicit in mass murder’ is an example of intolerance at the extreme,” Covit said.
Other Harvard students have said they’ve experienced backlash for expressing pro-Palestinian viewpoints in recent months.
The new report offers strategies that could help empower people to study and discuss controversial topics, including professors using anonymous polling at the beginning of a class to show students the “spectrum of views among peers about the topic.”
“The results of the anonymous poll are shared to establish that individuals may enter classroom discussions with different perspectives on contentious issues,” according to the report. “Armed with this information, students are invited — and may be more likely — to speak freely and articulate a range of views on contentious subject matter.”
The report also recommends faculty members try assigning positions or arguments to students.
“This approach can teach multiple perspectives, promote empathy, and prevent peers from assuming that positions taken in class reflect personal beliefs,” the report said.
Eric Beerbohm, a Harvard professor of government and cochair of the working group, said it’s important for students and professors to feel a sense of trust and belonging on campus so they feel comfortable speaking up.
“We’re very lucky to have a four-year residential experience where people [build] key connections to peers,” Beerbohm said. “What we have to do is think of what’s happening in those relationships, and think of how some of those techniques can be brought more directly into the classroom.”
Brown-Nagin said Harvard’s challenges, at least in part, reflect the “growing pains” of a campus that has become more diverse in recent decades, with students and faculty members hailing from across the globe with differing worldviews and experiences.
“I see this effort as a part of a continuing move towards creating campuses where all members can thrive,” Brown-Nagin said. “I’m very pleased to be involved and that kind of effort.”
