BY HANK REICHMAN
I am thrilled to announce that today, March 25, the second edition of my book, Understanding Academic Freedom, is officially published. In the first edition, published in late 2021, I sought to provide educators and others a basic introduction and guide to principles of academic freedom. But by early last year it had become clear to me that the fight to defend and promote academic freedom was entering a new and dangerous period. If I had once hoped the first edition would remain relevant for maybe a decade or so, it seemed that events now called for a version of the book that more specifically addressed the current crisis.
The new edition is roughly 75 pages longer than the first, with new material in just about every chapter. The Introduction now includes an overview of what I’ve deemed “the crisis of academic freedom,” covering events through last summer. Although the book was completed before Trump won the 2024 election, it should be obvious that the crisis is not only unabated but has greatly intensified under the new federal regime in ways that could be seen developing since 2020, especially in states like North Carolina, Florida and Texas, models for the Trump assault that I document in the book.
New illustrative examples based on events since the first edition have been added throughout the book and recent AAUP policy statements and reports are cited. Among the many changes, there is new material in the chapter on Research, including on peer review and donor impact. The chapter on Teaching now includes a section devoted to “state-mandated curricula.” The chapter on Citizenship adds a section on “Antisemitism and the Palestine Exception” and an expanded discussion of “Who Speaks for the Institution,” with coverage of debates over institutional neutrality and departmental statements. The section on financial exigency in the chapter on Tenure has been revised with more contemporary examples. The chapter on Law includes a new section on “Diversity, Discrimination, and Academic Freedom” and references a series of legal rulings since the previous edition. The chapter on Students discusses universities’ largely punitive response to last spring’s demonstrations. This list is hardly exhaustive.
I was pleased that the first edition found a significant audience throughout higher education and even beyond. I hope the new edition will serve as a tool in arming both faculty and college and university leaders with tools to more effectively resist the unprecedented current assault on academic freedom, higher education, and learning itself.
The AAUP and Johns Hopkins University Press have agreed to provide a 30% discount for AAUP members. For information go here.
Contributing editor Hank Reichman is professor emeritus of history at California State University, East Bay; former AAUP vice-president and chair of the AAUP Foundation; and from 2012-2021 Chair of AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure. His book, The Future of Academic Freedom, based in part on posts to this blog, was published in 2019. His Understanding Academic Freedom was published in October, 2021; a second edition is published today.
