Flagg Taylor, director of Miami University's new "intellectual diversity" center, says he expects students and the campus community to embrace the college's Center for Civics, Culture, and Society once they see what he's been working on.
Intellectual diversity centers were mandated by Ohio law in 2023 to open at five public universities around the state to combat what Republican lawmakers describe as "liberal bias" in higher education. The other centers are located at Ohio State, Wright State, Cleveland State, and the University of Toledo.
The centers at Ohio State and Toledo, which are already open, have hosted several events. The Cleveland State, Wright State, and Miami's civic centers have yet to open, though Miami's center plans to begin offering courses and hosting events this fall.
Taylor was named the inaugural director of Miami's center in April and officially started in the position June 1. This summer, he was tasked with using his academic experience to develop programs, courses, and hire new faculty to teach those courses.
He comes to Oxford from Skidmore College, a small liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, New York, where he lectured in the government department for more than 20 years. Before that, he was part of the American studies program at Fordham University.
Taylor also is the chair of the Academic Council for the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. The foundation was authorized by Congress in 1993 and describes itself as a nonprofit organization "devoted to commemorating the more than 100 million people killed by communism around the world."
The foundation's major claim that communism has killed more than 100 million people is contested, and critics say the foundation unfairly criticizes foreign governments while ignoring violence carried out by Western capitalist nations.
The creation of the intellectual diversity centers also has been scrutinized by faculty unions across Ohio, who say the civic centers were forced onto campuses to push a conservative political agenda without proper transparency, university involvement, or oversight. Some faculty also claim the centers will duplicate existing courses and programs.
The civic centers will operate as independent academic divisions within Ohio's colleges but will report directly to the universities. State legislation says each center will conduct "teaching and research in the historical ideas, traditions, and texts that have shaped the American constitutional order and society."
Proponents of the centers say they'll promote diverse viewpoints on different issues and improve civic education for Ohio's college students.
While Taylor agrees that "liberal bias" is a widespread issue in higher education, he told WVXU that Miami's center will focus on civic education and history rather than partisan politics or ideology. Still, he says the center will give more conservative scholars a place to share their perspective.
"There's no question that certain kinds of voices in the academy, conservative voices, certain kinds of scholarship, have not emerged in significant numbers in the past few decades, and I think the centers will offer the type of education that some of those conservative scholars are interested in," he said.
Three visiting faculty already have been hired to teach two pilot civics courses this academic year. Taylor says he plans to add more courses and faculty in the coming years, and eventually create a "civic thought" minor. Miami University is required by law to hire at least 10 faculty members for the civic center.
'Evidence can help convince the skeptics'
After two months on the job, Taylor says much of the Center for Civics, Culture, and Society's courses and programming are still being developed. The new center is collaborating with Miami's existing Menard Family Center for Democracy, which hosts civic lectures and events, on a Constitution Day lecture Sep. 15 with legal scholar Adam White about the use of executive power. Several other events are tentatively being planned for the spring semester.
Once students and faculty get a chance to participate in the civic center's courses and lectures, Taylor is confident its critics will see the value of Miami's new offering and the rest of the intellectual diversity centers.
"If you look at the types of courses that are being taught, if you look at the types of programming that are being put in place, the evidence can help convince the skeptics that these centers are doing and will continue to do important work," he told WVXU.
While Miami's civic center now has a clear timeline, Wright State's plan for its center remains hazy. WSU appointed U.S. Air Force Officer and Wright-Patterson Air Force Technology Director Jason Anderson to lead its Center for Civic, Culture, and Workforce Development in late 2024.
Anderson declined an interview with WVXU. A spokesperson for Wright State said the center is still in its early stages, and there's not enough information about its programming or courses for Anderson to answer any questions.
Read more:
