Viewpoint diversity in public health

Abstract

Schools of public health are often situated within universities but not infrequently also function as public health advocacy organizations. Viewpoint diversity on many issues is often limited within schools of public health and does not reflect the diversity one finds in society more generally. It is argued that welcoming, and even seeking out, viewpoint diversity within public health would contribute to understanding and knowledge, to the training public health leaders and academics who can serve the whole of society, and to working together across ideological lines to better contribute to population health.

Moral controversies and academic public health: Notes on navigating and surviving academic freedom challenges

“…In this essay, I would like to describe the course of events; consider whether the positions that were the source of controversy should be admissible within academic public health; and take up the issues of academic freedom, viewpoint diversity, and their relation to broader society and public health efforts. While the events described here are of course very specific, they bring up issues that are more general [ [3] , [4] , [5] , [6] ]. They give rise to questions concerning the extent to which a research university is able to facilitate a free exchange of potentially opposing ideas within the context of intellectual diversity and civil discourse, and the extent to which university administrators are willing to publicly support the university in this role.…”