Jonathan Potter

Aija kicks off the conference.

Aija Logren kicks off the Finnish Social Psychology conference. An exciting group!
@alexahepburn.bsky.social

Will do!

Potter & Hepburn in Kuopio’s central square.

In lovely Kuopio getting ready for the Finnish Social Psychology Conference. Exciting!
@alexahepburn.bsky.social
@darg-sessions.bsky.social
@rucalteam.bsky.social
#emotionography

To save UK higher education, start talking about knowledge - Research Professional News Until debate on universities foregrounds their core purposes, their woes will deepen, says Margot Finn

'Universities exist to foster and disseminate research, learning and critical analysis.' But this rarely comes across in recent media discussions of higher education says @eicathomefinn.bsky.social - a Vice President of @britishacademy.bsky.social
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...

There is an increasingly common and very lazy notion that universities are left biased. That needs countering as universities are under attack in the US but also elsewhere.

I wrote a thread about it.

Thank you. There is much more to be said, of course!

Universities aren’t “biased” because they care about inequality or social justice.
They’re biased toward evidence. Toward facts.
Especially in the US, careless talk of “left-wing bias” invites real damage.
Thoughts from US/UK experience here: 👇

Delighted to be speaking at this event on 13 May!

Do sign up

"Technically, AI is a field of computer science that uses advanced methods of computing. Socially, AI is a set of extractive tools used to concentrate power and wealth."

Yes - but why?!
As I said:
It’s not surprising that being through higher education correlates with support for parties addressing inequality and diversity. It reflects informed engagement with the world, not partisan bias.

"Scale isn't a substitute for scrutiny" resonates with Schegloff's (1993) "quantification is no substitute for analysis” (p. 114) in conversation analysis #EMCA

Universities aren't biased toward left-wing politics — they're biased toward knowledge. Thoughts here 👇

Serious conservative arguments are always welcome — but like everything in universities, they must meet the same standards: evidence, coherence, and rigor.

Calls for 'balance' between evidence and populist denial don't protect free speech — they undermine intellectual rigor. Universities thrive on serious, evidence-based challenges, not superficial parit

DEI hiring has strengthened universities. In both the US and UK, there’s a highly qualified, historically excluded pool of scholars. Hiring them raises the quality of academic life – it doesn’t dilute it.

It’s not surprising that being through higher education correlates with support for parties addressing inequality and diversity. It reflects informed engagement with the world, not partisan bias.

Many entered academia because they care about ideas, education, and human betterment – not to wage ideological battles.

Academics are educated in hard histories: slavery, empire, LGBTQ+ persecution, systemic discrimination. Being “woke” often means facing uncomfortable truths, not following ideological fashion.

Faculty are closely engaged with students from diverse backgrounds (though with a middle-class skew in both countries). Their understanding of inequality isn’t abstract - it’s daily and personal.

Inequality, racism, poverty, and social change aren’t “left-wing causes.” They are realities, extensively documented in research – in both the US and UK. Critics are free to challenge the evidence - but must do so seriously.

Populist thinking struggles to get a foothold in academia because it dodges facts, rejects trustworthy sources, and offers untestable assertions. Rejecting it is not bias; it is standards doing their job.

Academia has produced plenty of sophisticated conservative scholarship in politics, philosophy, economics, and social theory. What counts is rigor, coherence, and evidence – not ideology.

University research isn’t just opinion. It involves building evidence-based arguments, tested through peer review and serious critique. That's a much higher bar than casual commentary.

Listening to Rest is Politics, Rest is Politics US, and reading respected commentators, it's striking how 'left-wing bias' in universities is now taken for granted. That matters, especially in the US, where academia faces political attack. Thoughts from having worked in US/UK universities. 🧵

Amanda Bateman kicks of day two of the inaugural Co-Eating network workshop. @profsalwiggins.bsky.social @alexahepburn.bsky.social @bogdanahuma.bsky.social @iscaupdates.bsky.social @rucalteam.bsky.social @darg-sessions.bsky.social #EMCA #DP #CO-EATING

Sally Wiggins and tulips

@profsalwiggins.bsky.social welcomes all to the inaugural meeting of the Co-Eating Network. Two days of chewing over important ideas!
@alexahepburn.bsky.social @bogdanahuma.bsky.social
@ericlaurier.bsky.social
#EMCA #DP #CO-EATING

The anger in interaction poster

Continuing the emotional Swedish saga, this time in Norrköping. Anger in Interaction before two exciting days of co-eating! Hosted by @profsalwiggins.bsky.social.
@alexahepburn.bsky.social @derekedwards.bsky.social @iscaupdates.bsky.social @rucalteam.bsky.social @darg-sessions.bsky.social

The poster for the talk

Excited, happy, delighted, only slightly anxious, to be talking about the emotionography of anger in Stockholm later. @alexahepburn.bsky.social @lizstokoe.bsky.social @derekedwards.bsky.social @iscaupdates.bsky.social @rucalteam.bsky.social @darg-sessions.bsky.social
#EMCA

Thank you to @charlesantaki.bsky.social for suggesting this blog, to @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social for encouragement & sympathy & @galinabolden.bsky.social for Russian swearing! Transcribing was torture but analysis was more fun. Lots more to say & still lacking in important visual detail #EMCA

A new guest blog by @alexahepburn.bsky.social .

A fascinating, line by line transcription and analysis of the Trump – Vance - Zelenskyy White House interview that caused ripples around the world.

rolsi.net/2025/03/19/g...