Recap of our recent events and a silenced study resurfaces
Plus, registration for our conference on scientific censorship is open.
Thanks to all who came out to our first week of events as an official campus chapter of Heterodox Academy!
On October 15th we hosted the sociologist Musa al-Gharbi for a discussion on how the left-leaning biases of academics and journalists have led to inaccurate (and sometimes inadvertently hilarious) reporting and research on political trends. We were joined by faculty, emeritus faculty, staff, and students for an excellent 2+ hour discussion. Al-Gharbi signed copies of his new book We Have Never Been Woke, which we gave out to attendees. You can read more of his writing on his Substack:
On October 16th, we screened the documentary film The Coddling of the American Mind, based on the best-selling book of the same name.
Want to get more involved or have ideas for what we should do next? Please contact us at heterodox.usc@gmail.com.
Behind Closed (File) Drawers
The New York Times has reported that Johanna Olson-Kennedy, a physician and director of the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children's Hospital Los Angeles which is academically affiliated with USC, deliberately chose not to publish a study on the efficacy of puberty blockers in “trans” children because she feared the results would be “politicized” and potentially used to prohibit the prescribing of blockers.
Her study found that children showed no improvements in mental health after receiving puberty blockers. Olson-Kennedy smoothed this finding over by stating that the children already had “good mental health on average” at the start of the study. Thus, presumably, a study showing no change wasn’t particularly newsworthy and airing it would only fuel critics of “gender care” for minors.
However, researchers had previously recorded that around 25% of the children were “depressed or suicidal.” When asked about this discrepancy she then stated she was “still analyzing the data”.
We’re confused. The public is told repeatedly that “gender-affirming care” such as puberty blockers is prescribed to children to treat the severe mental distress associated with “gender dysphoria”. But, if these children were in good mental health before they began a medication with serious side effects, why were they then prescribed puberty blockers?
Alternatively, if 25% of the enrollees did have depression or suicidal ideation, and puberty blockers did nothing to alleviate these concerns, shouldn’t Olson-Kennedy release these important findings rather than stuffing the study into file drawers? This was also taxpayer funded, to the tune of $10 million. Doesn’t the public deserve to see the results of research we paid for?
As a fellow researcher on the study, Boston College clinical and research psychologist Amy Tishelman, said: “I understand the fear about it being weaponized, but it’s really important to get the science out there.”
This is a prime example of the “prosocial” self-censorship at work in science these days, well documented in this study and which will be a subject of much discussion at the upcoming Censorship in the Sciences conference that we’re hosting January 10-12, 2025. We’ll be joined by lots of compelling speakers, including Jesse Singal, who has reported extensively on the obfuscation of science around “gender-affirming” care.
Please forward this email to friends and colleagues you think might be interested in attending!
Who’s Afraid of the Dead White Dudes?
A chemistry lecturer at Kennesaw State University apparently told her class they didn’t need to learn the names of “dead white dudes” during a lecture:
“I am not going to ask you, ‘Which one is Boyle’s Law?’ ‘Which one is Charles’s law?’ Because I don’t think it’s very important for you to know all these dead white dudes’ names like that, it doesn’t matter,” she said. “What matters is the relationship between the variables, that you understand the relationship, and that you can use these laws in the math.”
This isn’t a surprising statement to anyone who has been in a college classroom in the past, say, twenty years. Stale jokes and apologetics about all those “old white guys” who made essential advances in the sciences (from which we all benefit) have been dutifully recited by progressive professors for decades.
Aside from being dated though, these jokes stymie actual learning, as USC Heterodox Academy member and Professor of Chemistry Anna Krylov told The College Fix:
“First, having names attached to scientific laws makes it much easier to navigate the material and retain it — ‘Boyle’s Law’ is a more compact and vivid reference than ‘The Equation Describing the Relationship Between Volume and Pressure.’ Moreover, students need to know the names of these equations because that is how they are referred to in the scientific literature.”
Speaking of jokes, this got us pretty good:
As the X/Twitter rabble said in response: can’t people just do science?
Interesting USC News and Research
Common drug shows promise in extending lifespan
USC study finds link between PFAS, kidney function and gut health
Bringing small-town dreams to USC
Local Events:
Much of this newsletter has focused on the problem of censorship and group think in the sciences, but the arts suffers from perhaps even worse conditions. The Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism is hosting a fundraiser for their advocacy work in the arts in the Pacific Palisades on November 2nd. Purchase a ticket here»
If you have suggestions for things you’d like us to cover, feedback on our newsletter, or want to get more involved with Heterodox at USC please contact us at heterodox.usc@gmail.com. Fight On!