Charles Murray, a controversial conservative social scientist scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, will speak 6 p.m. Tuesday in Franklin Hall.
At roughly the same time, Christopher Bail, an associate professor from Duke University in public policy, will speak across campus in the Global and International Studies Building about how anti-Muslim fringe organizations became mainstream.
Murray’s talk has gained criticism, specifically from graduate political science students said Abdulkader Sinno, associate professor of political science, who orchestrated the Christopher Bail talk.
“It was a stroke of luck they were organized at the same time,” Sinno said.
Murray, author of “The Bell Curve,” gained national attention last month when his talk at Middlebury College in Vermont was shut down by violent protesters.
Widely known and criticized for his views that minorities are genetically inferior and that women cannot compete to the same level as men in the workplace, specifically within the science sector, Murray will be speaking at 6 p.m. in Presidents Hall.
“The ‘Coming Apart’ Election” is free to those with an IU ID present at the box office and event, tickets available at the IU Auditorium.
Sinno said he hopes to encourage students and faculty to attend the Bail talk to face the problem of these ideas on race, sexuality and gender emerging again head on, discuss it and put it to rest.
While he said he advocates for academic freedom to debate and to exchange differing ideas, he has a concern with having a man, like Murray, whose statements discriminate and cause hurt to different communities speak at IU.
“In academia, you need ideas to duel to come to the truth,” he said.
Sinno said the Bail talk will focus on how anti-Muslim sentiments that were previously marginalized and unacceptable in American society has gained traction.
“In a sense our talk will address this sad, unfortunate phenomenon which will manifest itself on our own campus,” he said, referring to Murray’s talk.
Bail’s book “Terrified: How Anti-Muslim Fringe Organizations Became Mainstream” uses big-data analysis of more than 100 organizations to trace their impact on newspaper articles, TV transcripts, legislative debates and social media messages post-9/11.
Sinno said he was so impressed after reading Bail’s book that he began the process to arrange for Bail to come to speak on campus.
He said he wants the public who choose to attend the event to understand the ideas in contexts, sources and where they come from.
Students, faculty members and the community then may be able to use their own minds to assess qualities of ideas.
With an uproar within the students and faculty already, Sinno said he hopes this turns into a learning moment for advancement intellectually by engaging in a calm manner and providing alternatives.
“We are a society that wins and advances by thinking, not by destroying,” Sinno said.
Bail’s discussion is free and open to the public.
