New Journal of Academic Freedom Focuses on Bullying

BY RACHEL IDA BUFF We are pleased to announce the publication of Volume 10 of the AAUP’s Journal of Academic Freedom. The journal features recent scholarship on academic freedom and its relation to contemporary crises of austerity, shared governance, tenure, and collective bargaining. This year’s contributors draw connections between the multiple frequencies of bullying present on…

From the Golan Heights to Morningside Heights: Local Implications of Israel’s Political Blacklist

BY KATHERINE FRANKE AND MICHAEL ALTMAN-LUPU We have a message for Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar: welcome to the blacklist.  You have joined a growing group of human rights defenders who have been denied entry to Israel and Palestine by the Israeli government because we dared to argue that Israel should comply with international…

“Viewpoint Diversity” and UNC-Chapel Hill

BY SHERRYL KLEINMAN The right has recently adopted the language of “viewpoint diversity” in their critique of allegedly liberal professors. “Diversity” sounds nice (how could one be against it?) and, coupled with “viewpoint,” has a ring of freedom about it. But this rhetoric barely masks the intent: to justify hiring conservative faculty and creating conservative…

the back of an Oakland University AAUP chapter t-shirt that says "The Faculty Voice"

Broadening Faculty Representation

BY TOM DISCENNA AND AMY POLLARD Through no fault of the AAUP, its slogan “One Hundred Years, One Faculty” is too often belied in practice. The effect of state labor law, historical exigencies, and deeply entrenched attitudes has meant that in many places tenure-track (TT) and non-tenure-track (NTT) faculty are organized in separate unions. In…

Academic Freedom, Even for Amy Wax

Guest blogger Keith E. Whittington is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics at Princeton University and the author of Speak Freely: Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech. Amy Wax, a professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania, has once again annoyed her colleagues and students and provoked calls for her prompt dismissal. It…

Large lecture hall

Declaration of the Global Forum on Academic Freedom, Institutional Autonomy, and the Future of Democracy

BY THE GLOBAL FORUM ON ACADEMIC FREEDOM, INSTITUTIONAL AUTONOMY, AND THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY June 21, 2019 DECLARATION The Global Forum on Academic Freedom, Institutional Autonomy, and the Future of Democracy was held at Council of Europe headquarters in Strasbourg on 20 – 21 June 2019 and co-organized by the Council of Europe; the International Consortium…

College Counselors and the Exploitation of Contingent Faculty

BY JANE S. GABIN College Counselors responsible for steering high school students towards college might not realize it, but they are crucial allies of instructors at those colleges and universities. Counselors connect admissions representatives with prospective students by scheduling college fairs with tables or booths and information sessions with individual college representatives. They are busy…

image of Louisiana painted as a red state contrasted with contiguous states painted blue or purplish brown

Letter from Louisiana: Advocacy Organizing in Red America

BY LINDA CARROLL For red state advocacy members, it is heartening that the national leadership and staff of the AAUP are planning a renewed emphasis on organizing in advocacy situations, as announced at this year’s June meeting. Advocacy organizing in red states has a number of distinctive features, as I learned from decades of work…