Danielle Allen
Latest Articles
Time for Harvard To Thank the American People
Yet an even more important ally is the American people. The American people have for many decades given us great gifts — decades of generous support for research, as well as young people to educate and financial support for those students.
Navigating Speech Across Different Roles
My hope is that our students might both choose to prioritize their student roles by voluntarily departing the camp and reconsider how they exercise their civic duty.
What To Do When People Use Free Speech Poorly
The biggest mistake of all is when we assume that speech protections mean there is nothing we can do about permissible but bad speech.
Not All Permissible Speech is Good
Just because you can say it doesn’t mean you should. Whether our campus relationships are healthy depends on choices we make about how we advocate our views.
Academic Freedom and Free Speech Are Distinct. Both Matter.
All year we’ve bandied about phrases like “civil discourse,” “open inquiry,” “academic freedom,” and “free speech.” It’s time to clarify them, and what living by them requires.
Introducing Harvard’s Values Statement
Let me introduce you to the Harvard University Statement of Values, the stepchild of our campus policies.
Letter to the Editor: Clarifying My Final Club Motion
The so-called “Allen motion” currently on the table is very simple and, I believe, represents a middle way between the two poles of the argument.
A Report From the Frontlines of the Free Speech Wars
To my mind, full-throated political engagement belongs on op-ed pages and in the hard work of citizenship. That said, faculty members should not be “watchlisted” if they make other judgments than mine about how to deploy academic freedom.
Veritas for All
If the campus can’t support the flourishing of all, we make good neither on the promise of diversity nor on the promises made to each new member of the community.