We invite you to join the National Association of Scholars for our upcoming events. Tomorrow at 4 pm ET, we ask "Does Merit Matter?" Next Tuesday at 2 pm ET we'll be joined by three experts to learn about the invention of the nuclear bomb and the project that brought it about. And next Friday, we'll continue our Restoring the Sciences webinar series with "Indigenization vs. Open Inquiry."

More on our upcoming webinars and additional events:

Join the National Association of Scholars tomorrow at 4 pm ET for "Does Merit Matter."

In April 2023, twenty-nine prominent scholars published a public letter in the Journal of Controversial Ideas titled, "In Defense of Merit in Science." The question raises itself: Merit in science is a controversial idea?

"In Defense of Merit in Science" is an eloquent statement of a principle: science can only thrive if it embodies the best minds, who are allowed unfettered access to scientific frontiers. Yet, the academic science ecosystem is increasingly dominated by an administrative class that seeks to control scientists and curtail their freedom. This raises a second question: How can the principle effectively be defended? Can scientists do it from within the academy? Can faculty wrest their independence back?

This event will feature Bernhardt L. Trout, Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT, and Luana Maroja, Professor of Biology at Williams College. The event will be moderated by Scott Turner.

To learn more about the event, click here.

Join the National Association of Scholars on Tuesday, September 19, at 2 pm ET for "American Innovation: The Manhattan Project."

The Manhattan Project, the name for America's atomic bomb program, was one of the most tightly kept secrets of the war. What is the story behind this secretive program? How was the atomic bomb developed, and how was it kept such a close secret? How has America's atomic program changed since the inception of the Manhattan Project?

This event will feature Cynthia Kelly, founder and president of the Atomic Heritage Foundation; Tom Ramos, a physicist and author of From Berkeley to Berlin: How the Rad Lab Helped Avert Nuclear War; and Alex Wellerstein, a historian of science and nuclear technology and a professor at the Stevens Institute of Technology.

To learn more about the event, click here.

Join the National Association of Scholars on Friday, September 22, at 3 pm ET to discuss “Restoring the Sciences: Indigenization vs. Open Inquiry.”

Does “indigenous knowledge” complement or conflict with open inquiry? Recent events, such as the popular belief that Canadian indigenous residential schools kept mass graves and battles over the repatriation of archaeological artifacts and indigenous remains, have thrown the question into stark relief.

This event will feature Frances Widdowson, a Canadian political scientist who specializes in academic freedom issues, indigenous affairs, and identity politics in universities. Widdowson has received many threats, public and private, for her skeptical comments on the “unmarked” graves controversy. The most public affair saw a mob of students disrupt her speech during a scheduled lecture at the University of Lethbridge.

This event will be moderated by J. Scott Turner of the National Association of Scholars.

To learn more about the event, click here.

If you can't attend our webinar events live, you can still register to watch the recordings. All registrants will receive a follow-up email with a link to the recording shortly after each event.

If you have missed any of our past events or webinars, you may find all of our recordings here: https://www.youtube.com/@NAScholars/streams.

I look forward to seeing you in the virtual audience!
 

Best,
Chance Layton
Director of Communications
National Association of Scholars