BY JOHN K. WILSON Jonathan Haidt, a professor of psychology at New York University, and Greg Lukianoff, president and CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), have written a new book, The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure. Haidt and…
BY JOHN K. WILSON Satoshi Kanazawa, a psychologist at the London School of Economics, was having a quiet sabbatical, spending it as a visiting scholar at Northwestern University, until someone looked up his many controversial writings. Now a petition signed by more than 4,400 (and supported by the Daily Northwestern editorial board) is demanding “Ban…
BY JOHN K. WILSON Last week, the Nassau Community College Board of Trustees unanimously approved a new News Media Relations policy that is a tremendous victory for freedom of the press, reflecting the importance of the AAUP and other groups fighting for campus liberty. At the Nov. 13 Board meeting, President W. Hubert Keen declared, “We’ve…
BY JOHN K. WILSON In a major victory for graduate student employees, Columbia University has agreed to a framework to recognize the Graduate Workers of Columbia-UAW (GWC-UAW) and the Columbia Postdoctoral Workers-UAW (CPW-UAW) and begin good-faith contract negotiations with the UAW. The Framework states that an agreement “must not infringe upon the integrity of Columbia’s…
BY JOHN K. WILSON Many people on AcademeBlog, including Hank Reichman, have made interesting comments on the so-called “Sokal squared” hoax. Earlier this month, I was a discussant at a session focusing on the hoax at FIRE’s annual faculty conference, and I think it’s important to discuss the academic freedom implications of the hoax. I have…
BY JOHN K. WILSON The National Association of Scholars today issued its 11th annual “Beach Books” report critiquing common reading programs. The NAS press release is shockingly titled, “Study Finds College Common Reading Programs Indoctrinate Students.” And it declares, “American colleges and universities run common reading programs designed to indoctrinate students with progressive propaganda….” Exactly how…
BY JOHN K. WILSON Donald Trump has infamously called the media who dare to tell the truth about him “the enemy of the people” and dreamed of repressive measures to silence the press. But so far he’s been too incompetent to actually fulfill his totalitarian wishes. If you want to find a place where freedom…
This past weekend, I was invited by the National Association of Scholars to speak on a panel at their conference at Grove City College, “Capitol Ideas: Government Overreach and Higher Education.” As a progressive, I probably agreed with the title about fearing government overreach in higher education more than almost anyone there, and I spoke…
BY JOHN K. WILSON Dixie State University (DSU) in Utah, after trying and failing to fire music professor Ken Peterson for the crime of gossip, is now declaring that Peterson, to keep his job, must sign a “Last Chance Agreement” that is one of the most extreme violations of academic freedom and free speech that…