Dr. Jonathan Golden explores truth and censorship
October 2025 – Drew University’s Caspersen School of Graduate Studies held its annual hybrid fall Arts & Letters Salon welcoming Jonathan Golden, director of Drew’s Center on Religion, Culture, & Conflict, for a thought-provoking and timely conversation on truth, censorship, and the role of education and culture in shaping public understanding.
Golden’s talk, “The Truth About Truth: Navigating Multiple Realities in the Age of Alternative Facts, Censorship, and Disinformation,” explored how questions on who decides what stories are told and which are left out continue to shape our schools, museums, and public history. He challenged the audience to reflect on how truth is curated and sometimes suppressed.
“Should all truths be told at all times?” Golden asked. “In principle, yes. But the way facts are presented and the feelings they evoke matters.”
He highlighted examples ranging from school curricula where slavery, civil rights, and systemic racism are inconsistently taught, to recent book bans. Golden also examined controversies surrounding museums and public monuments, noting how the removal of artifacts or the persistence of Confederate statues shapes national memory.
Golden shared a personal reflection of a recent pilgrimage to Selma and Montgomery in Alabama for the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. Visiting the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, he described the emotional weight of encountering the nation’s history of racial violence. “I couldn’t get through five feet of the museum without crying,” he admitted. “This is something that has the potential for people to really connect with—it forces deep thought and reflection.”
The talk closed with an invitation to discussion with the audience of educators, museum professionals, and community members. “Telling the truth can be painful,” said Golden. “But concealing it comes at a much higher cost.”
The evening concluded with a reception in the Seminary Hall Atrium for in-person attendees.
Drew’s Arts & Letters program is an interdisciplinary graduate liberal studies program offering courses in seven concentrations that build on Drew’s strengths in the humanities, the creative/performing arts, religious studies, and teacher education. Through small seminar-style classes that meet in person, online, and in hybrid formats, the program enables students to customize each course of study to meet their individual goals.
The event was made possible by the generous support of Werner Kofler T’03, G’05. The Werner Kofler Arts & Letters Endowment was endowed in 2011 to provide a Doctor of Letters discussion group for the Arts & Letters program in the Caspersen School of Graduate Studies.
