Speaking with Bo Winegard: from the State of the Academy to the State of Twitter

“My sense is that most people—even people who truly abhor a lot of the stuff that I write—were supportive and were sort of horrified by the decision and by what happened.”

Bo Winegard is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Marietta College in Ohio. He completed his Ph.D. in psychology at Florida State University in 2018. He has described an interest in approaching “psychological puzzles from an evolutionary perspective” and has published on the subject of traits varying among groups. Winegard attracted considerable media attention earlier this year when Marietta College declined to renew his teaching contract, leading many (including himself) to wonder if his research topics as well as his political views contributed to the college’s decision. (Winegard has expressed conservative views on some subjects.) In this interview, he joins Merion West and Kambiz Tavana to discuss his upcoming departure from Marietta College, the state of free speech and unrestricted inquiry in academia, and to weigh in on how Twitter is affecting discussions of complex academic topics.

You and I were supposed to talk originally about your research on personality and individual differences. But while we were planning that, something else happened. You wrote about it, but—for those who haven’t heard—could you please, in short, tell us what happened to you?

I was fired from my job. I don’t even remember exactly when—around February 29th or something—so much has happened since then. It’s just been swirling. I was given no reason for it, and they still haven’t provided a reason. I don’t think they technically have to, but I have suspicions about what led to it—because I had various meetings with my bosses before that happened. And, I kind of have a strong hunch about why I was let go.