BY HANK REICHMAN

If I may be excused a moment of self-promotion, today marks the official publication date of my new book, Understanding Academic Freedom.  My purpose in writing Understanding was to provide a concise (the book is just 205 pages minus notes and index) and accessible introduction to the concept of academic freedom as practiced and preached in the U.S. (mostly by the AAUP) and an overview of both historic and contemporary challenges to it.  As my publisher, Johns Hopkins University Press, gloats on the back cover, it provides “the first comprehensive introduction to the concept in all its manifestations.”

It is my hope that AAUP chapters and individual members, college and university administrators, attorneys involved in higher education law, journalists, even politicians, and, perhaps most of all, ordinary faculty members, tenure-track and contingent, and graduate students will find the book useful.

Here is a full Table of Contents, including subheads within chapters:

Introduction

1.  History
The 1915 Declaration
The 1940 Statement
The Post-World War II Era
Lernfreiheit and Governance
The 1970 Interpretive Comments and After
The Erosion of Tenure

2.  Research
Peer Review
Institutional Review Boards
Freedom to Publish and Classified Research
Academy-Industry Relationships
Open Access
Donors
Confidentiality of Research Materials
Research and the Erosion of Tenure
Artistic Expression

3.  Teaching
Education, Not Indoctrination
Balance
Hostile Learning Environment
Controversy and Relevance
The Freedom to Teach
The Electronic Classroom
The Limitations Clause

4.  Citizenship  
A Prophylactic Approach
The Fitness Standard
Social Media
The BDS Movement
Who Speaks for the Institution?
Political Activity
Intramural Expression

5.  Tenure
Tenure Defined
Financial Exigency and Program Discontinuance
Does Tenure Protect “Dead Wood?”
The Gig Academy

6.  Law
The Supreme Court from Adler to Keyishian
Faculty or Institutional Academic Freedom?
Representation and Faculty Unions
From Pickering to Janus
Contract Law

7.  Students
Student Protests
The Courts Respond
The Faculty Responds
The 1967 Joint Statement on Rights and Freedoms of Students
Student Media
Students as Teachers and Researchers
In Loco Parentis Redivivus?

8.  Knowledge
The Assault on Expertise and Learning
Defunding Higher Education
Anti-Intellectualism
Postmodernism
Race, Knowledge and Academic Freedom
Conclusion

Appendix: Principles of Academic Freedom

Further Reading

Acknowledgements

And here’s what some early readers have said about the book:

“One part user’s manual, one part call to action. Reichman offers a clear, engaging review and analysis of historical precedents, legal cases, and current events to argue that the revitalization of academic freedom is essential to counter the decades-long right-wing assault on knowledge and expertise, and to ensure the survival of America’s democratic experiment.” — Julie Schmid, Executive Director, AAUP

“In Understanding Academic Freedom, Henry Reichman demystifies the concept of academic freedom, drawing on his extensive experience as a scholar and leader in the American Association of University Professors. Deeply researched and deftly argued, this eye-opening book shatters many illusions about higher education in the United States today.”— Keisha N. Blain, Professor of History, University of Pittsburgh, President, African-American Intellectual History Society, author of Set the World on Fire: Black Nationalist Women and the Global Struggle for Freedom and Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer’s Enduring Message to America

“Reichman, a leading voice on academic freedom, has given us an essential account of academic freedom’s history and significance for our moment. Now, when free inquiry and the pursuit of truth are under assault, Understanding Academic Freedom offers a robust defense of this keystone of our campuses and our democracy.” — Frederick M. Lawrence, Secretary and CEO, The Phi Beta Kappa Society

“Place this book on the shelves of every college and university president, dean, and trustee. Give it to every graduate student headed for an academic career. Put it in the hands of every legislator who has to defend academic freedom from intrusive partisans.” — Linda K. Kerber, Professor Emerita of History, University of Iowa, former President, American Historical Association and Organization of American Historians, author of No Constitutional Right to Be Ladies: Women and the Obligations of Citizenship.

“From social media bullies and boards pushing political agendas to science skeptics and presidents beholden to corporate interests, universities confront a remarkably hostile environment for academic freedom. As he has done before, Hank Reichman incisively frames an urgent agenda to protect academic freedom as essential for higher education to thrive.” — Patricia McGuire, President, Trinity Washington University.

“A terrific introduction to the principles of academic freedom that are foundational to the work of scholars and teachers and an engaging guide to the complexities of applying those still vital principles to the myriad circumstances of modern academic life.” — Keith E. Whittington, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics, Princeton University; Chair, Academic Freedom Alliance, author of Speak Freely: Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech.

“Henry Reichman has written an accessible overview of the history and multiple meanings of academic freedom, helpfully illustrated by his deep familiarity with AAUP policies and recent controversies. It is especially valuable for readers eager to learn about new challenges to academic freedom and to place them in the context of traditional understandings.” — David Rabban, Professor of Law, University of Texas; former chair, AAUP Committee A and former AAUP Counsel; author of Free Speech in Its Forgotten Years, 1870-1920.

“Reichman addresses the issue of academic freedom in a timely matter. His lengthy service as chair of AAUP’s Committee A makes him especially well qualified to deal with this subject.”— Larry G. Gerber, Professor Emeritus of History, Auburn University; former AAUP vice-president; author of The Rise and Decline of Faculty Governance: Professionalization and the Modern American University.

“Academic freedom has become a flashpoint both in recent discussions of higher education and more broadly in the ongoing culture wars. Understanding Academic Freedom promises to be both an important and a timely intervention on a subject of great and increasing concern.” — Michael Meranze, Professor of History, University of California, Los Angeles; member, AAUP Committee A; author of Laboratories of Virtue: Punishment, Revolution, and Authority in Philadelphia, 1760–1835.