BY JOHN K. WILSON
Because so many conferences and events have been cancelled, I wanted to provide some online events and resources dealing with academic freedom and free expression on campus. Below are some suggestions for content about campus free speech issues, including upcoming events, free online resources, recent presentations at conferences, and podcasts. (Note that I have not watched/read/heard all of these, so I can’t vouch for their quality or correctness.)
PEN America’s Campus Free Speech Program will hold a free online forum, “What Professors Need to Know About Online Hate and Harassment,” via Zoom on Tuesday April 7th from 4:00pm-5:15pm (EST). It is PEN America’s first online forum in their webinar series, “Free Speech & the Virtual Campus.” https://pen.org/event/what-professors-need-to-know-about-online-hate-and-harassment/
On April 13-14, 2020, the Human Rights Foundation will host COVIDCon, a free virtual Oslo Freedom Forum event focused on how tyranny sparked and is exploiting the novel coronavirus pandemic to crack down on civil liberties, https://covidcon.org/
Dangerous Questions: Why Academic Freedom Matters (3 week free online class starts April 20, with Robert Quinn of Scholars at Risk) https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/academic-freedom
FIRE’s 2020 Faculty Conference will be Oct. 22-24 in Chicago, and the deadline for proposals is June 15. https://www.thefire.org/resources/free-speech-resources-for-faculty/faculty-conference/#2020_conference_form
Project MUSE (Johns Hopkins U Press) content is free through May 31, https://muse.jhu.edu/
For books, you will need to download each chapter. Here are some free books available:
Henry Reichman’s The Future of Academic Freedom (2019), https://muse.jhu.edu/book/66177, which was just announced as the ALA’s Intellectual Freedom Round Table (IFRT) recipient of the 2020 Eli M. Oboler Memorial Award, which recognizes the best published work in the area of intellectual freedom (http://www.ala.org/news/member-news/2020/03/henry-reichman-receives-ifrt-oboler-memorial-award-0)
The AAUP Redbook, Policy Documents and Reports (2014 edition), https://muse.jhu.edu/book/39933
Academic Freedom: The Global Challenge (2018), https://muse.jhu.edu/book/60350
Safe Spaces, Brave Spaces: Diversity and Free Expression in Education (2017), https://muse.jhu.edu/book/60818
Professors in the Gig Economy: Unionizing Adjunct Faculty in America (2018), https://muse.jhu.edu/book/57938
VIDEO OF CONFERENCES AND SPEECHES:
Scholars at Risk held its 2020 Global Congress, “Truth, Power & Society: The Promise of Higher Education in Challenging Times,” in a virtual gathering via Zoom on March 26-27, https://www.scholarsatrisk.org/bytype/2020-sar-global-congress-videos/
University of California National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement SpeechMatters conference, Feb. 28, 2020, https://freespeechcenter.universityofcalifornia.edu/speech-matters-2020/
2019 SpeechMatters conference, https://freespeechcenter.universityofcalifornia.edu/speech-matters-2019/
2019 Heterodox Academy conference, https://heterodoxacademy.org/2019-conference/program/
2018 Justice Department conference on campus free speech, https://www.c-span.org/video/?451488-2/justice-department-holds-forum-free-speech-college-campuses
2019 Trump signing executive order on campus free speech, https://www.c-span.org/video/?459023-1/president-trump-signs-executive-order-protecting-free-inquiry-college-campuses
2018 Fund for American Studies panel on campus free speech with Howard Gillman and others, https://www.c-span.org/video/?447686-1/panelists-discuss-free-speech-issues-colleges
2018 Atlantic Magazine conference on freedom and politics, https://www.c-span.org/video/?446295-1/the-atlantic-hosts-conference-american-idea
2018 American Historical Association conference session on campus free speech, https://www.c-span.org/video/?439274-6/free-speech-campus
Academic Engagement Network, National Constitution Center, March 19, 2019, Free Speech on College Campuses, https://constitutioncenter.org/debate/past-programs/free-speech-on-college-campuses
Academic Freedom in the Digital Age, Sept. 19, 2019, Robert Zimmer, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnQaVo5i5Y
Are College Campuses Eroding Free Speech? McCain Institute, Oct. 2, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnQaVo5i5Y
Bruce Gilley, “How to End Left-wing Dominance in Higher Education: A Toolkit for Activists and Policy-Makers,” MacDonald Centre, Nov. 19, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMlGmeJsurU
The Importance of Free Speech on Campus, St. John’s Federalist Society Chapter, Oct. 8, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUJtaGwgcYo
Lionel Shriver on Censorship, Cancel Culture and Free Speech, June 9, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISr9IgYG0NU
P.E. Moskowitz, The Case Against Free Speech, C-SPAN, August 22, 2019, https://www.c-span.org/video/?463545-1/the-case-free-speech
Alan Dershowitz at Liberty University, March 2019, https://www.liberty.edu/journal/article/free-speech-a-welcoming-campus-has-spoken/
Arienne Stone, Academic Freedom and Free Speech, August 30, 2019, https://socialsciences.org.au/events/2019-fay-gale-lecture/
Foreign Money in U.S. Universities: Implications for Academic Freedom and National Security, Council on Foreign Relations, December 10, 2019, https://www.cfr.org/event/foreign-money-us-universities-implications-academic-freedom-and-national-security
Kader Konuk: “Challenges to Academic Freedom in the 21st Century,” April 13, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUmggiLBu1k
The Present Danger at our Leading Universities: What is to be Done? by Judge José A. Cabranes, ACTA, Oct. 18, 2019, https://www.goacta.org/higher_ed_now/The-Present-Danger-at-our-Leading-Universities
FIRE’s videos (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC4leKu2BwJZpv9jaUXpC4w), such as Nadine Strossen, 2019 FIRE Summer Conference, https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLvIqJIL2kOMeAtSOgvDmtVYhcUj7z0v4e&v=C2VoXgMIxLg
Union for Democratic Communications, Nov. 1, 2019 panel on “Censorship & Academic Freedom in The Neofascist Age,” Mickey Huff, Project Censored; Steve Macek, North Central College; Albert Ponce, Diablo Valley College, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHzrqU-O9xo
2018 talk by UCI President Howard Gillman at University of California at Santa Barbara: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXN02pkrjFM
University of Michigan annual lecture on academic freedom, 2019 by Henry Reichman, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiDPQhsoNx0&list=UUZOFYNrrHbnV8ZQXS1kDe5Q
Colorado AAUP Academic Freedom Symposium, 2017, https://aaupcolorado.org/2017/08/13/video-from-the-colorado-aaups-academic-freedom-symposium/
Academic Freedom Training Module for librarians, https://sites.google.com/site/academicfreedomtrainingmodule/
AAUP Videos, https://www.facebook.com/watch/AAUPNational/
PODCASTS:
ACLU’s podcast, At Liberty: https://www.aclu.org/podcast/podcast-at-liberty
FIRE’s So to Speak, https://www.thefire.org/news-and-media/so-to-speak/
Half Hour of Heterodoxy, https://heterodoxacademy.org/half-hour-of-heterodoxy/
Future U Podcast, https://futureupodcast.wordpress.com/
American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA), https://www.goacta.org/higher_ed_now/podcasts
National Association of Scholars, Curriculum Vitae, https://www.nas.org/blogs/article/tags/podcast
The AAUP’s Henry Reichman interviewed on WAMC, https://wamcpodcasts.org/podcast/1490-the-future-of-academic-freedom/
American Council on Education podcast dotEdu (https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/dotedu) on campus free speech with Lara Schwartz of American University and Michelle Deutchman, Nov. 25, 2019, https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/american-council-on-education/dotedu/e/65533804
Times Higher Education episode, https://timeshighered.podbean.com/e/the-podcast-free-speech-and-academic-freedom-on-university-campuses/
Cato podcast on free speech, https://www.cato.org/multimedia/cato-daily-podcast/academic-freedom-freedom-speech-private-college-campuses
Constitution Center, Should the Government Regulate Speech on Campus? https://constitutioncenter.org/podcast-should-the-government-regulate-speech-on-campus
PEN America’s Free Speech 2020 project (https://pen.org/free-speech-2020/) includes interviews with various people.
For those of you wondering why so many of these videos and podcasts reflect conservative approaches, I think that’s because so many conservative groups focus on campus free speech and pour resources into dominating the public debate, and few progressives. Feel free to comment with your additional suggestions for free resources, videos, podcasts, or upcoming events.
