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Rob Monz Skeptics
Rob Monz Skeptics
Rob Monz Skeptics
Rob Monz Skeptics
Rob Monz Skeptics
Rob Monz Skeptics
Documentary Filmmaker Examined Undergraduate Political Correctness

Independent documentarian Rob Montz talked about political correctness on college campuses at the January 8 Society of Skeptics in the Chiang Center for Innovation and Collaboration.

During his hour-long presentation he planned to take a unique “spin” on the pressures undergraduates are under to be politically correct, specifically examining the student experience at some of the most well-known elite universities in the United States. “I don’t think most Blair students think about that much—and, if they are like me as a teenager, they are blinded by the prestige associated with such institutions,” said Mr. Montz, whose work has attracted millions of views and coverage in major outlets including The Economist, USA Today, The New York Times, the Washington Post and "The Adam Carolla Podcast." 

If nothing else, the filmmaker hoped his talk will encourage Blair students to think more critically about what they want from a college education, not simply “see it as the next mandatory thing they are supposed to do.” 

Mr. Montz last addressed the Society of Skeptics in December 2017 about his documentary The Quarterlife User Manual, which focuses on how the American education system has kids emerging from college with no idea what to do and therefore experiencing "quarter-life crises." Other recent work includes a 2017 documentary “Silence U. PT 2: What Has Yale Become?,” published on We the Internet TV, which won the 2018 Reason Video Prize. This latest film is the second installment of a three-part series on controversies associated with free speech on college campuses. He also produced a documentary on the U.S. presidency that was published in November 2018. 

Mr. Montz graduated from Brown University in 2005 with a degree in philosophy and admits he left there with “precisely zero marketable skills.” He soon relocated to Washington, D.C., where he worked in public policy and communications before beginning to make his own films in 2012. He and his wife, their two children and “authoritarian corgi” Bronson still live in Washington. Learn more about Mr. Montz and his work at www.robmontz.com.

The History of Skeptics
The Society of Skeptics was established as a forum for students and faculty to discuss and debate important global issues; it has grown to become one of the premier high school lecture series in the United States. Each week, speakers from the political, social, scientific, economic and literary arenas share their unique perspectives with students, who are encouraged to engage with presenters, asking questions and debating points of view.  

The program was an outgrowth of the Blair International Society, begun in 1937. Forty years later, former history department chair Elliott Trommald, PhD, Hon. ’65, established the modern Skeptics program as a regular forum for student discussion and debate; history teacher Martin Miller, PhD, took over in the mid-1980s and molded the program into a weekly lecture series, one that has since continued without interruption. Under the tutelage of Dr. Miller, Skeptics has featured a wide variety of speakers who are engaging, accomplished in their respective fields and often controversial. For a listing of upcoming Skeptics programs, please click here.

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