POSTED BY THE AAUP Last week, the AAUP shared a new toolkit of resources about legislation on campus free speech. Media scrutiny has blown the issue of free speech on campus out of proportion relative to more widespread and urgent problems in higher education. Bills purporting to protect free speech on campus would have the…
POSTED BY THE AAUP As students across the country walked out of school Wednesday—one month after the February 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida—and rallied for gun control, we see how powerful solidarity on this issue can be. In an interview with the news program 60 Minutes over the weekend secretary of education…
POSTED BY THE AAUP Gun violence is not a problem limited to high schools. Colleges and universities have been sites of mass shootings since the 1960s. The mere presence of guns on campus or in the classroom limits academic freedom, potentially affecting the choice of course materials, how far faculty members should press students to…
POSTED BY THE AAUP Below is the text of an email from AAUP president Rudy Fichtenbaum and AAUP Collective Bargaining Congress chair Paul Davis sent on February 27 following the February 26 oral arguments at the US Supreme Court in the case of Janus v. AFSCME. Dear Colleague, Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in…
POSTED BY KELLY HAND In his article recently published in the January–February issue of Academe magazine, “A New Reality? The Far Right’s Use of Cyberharassment against Academics,” Joshua A. Cuevas offers a firsthand account of being targeted by malicious online attacks using fabricated information. In counteracting these efforts to sabotage his professional reputation, Cuevas documented the…
POSTED BY KELLY HAND The new issue of Academe considers the state of the academic profession in a political climate that has exacerbated existing threats to higher education. Articles focus on challenges to academic freedom and collective bargaining, the recent upsurge in harassment campaigns targeting faculty members, and faculty activism. Follow the links in the table of…
JANUARY 14 PROPOSAL DEADLINE: In the past year, free speech on campuses has become a focus of contentious debate and increased media scrutiny. Campus communities—including administrators, faculty, and students—generally embrace the concept of free speech yet lack a clear consensus about its limits. The AAUP invites proposals for presentations at its annual conference on the state…
BY LARRY CATÁ BACKER Once virtually everyone in the nation could look at the university and see in it the embodiment of a noble idea. Universities were the place where young adults were given an education (civic, social, and intellectual) to prepare them for the assumption of their roles in society. To that end, students…
POSTED BY KELLY HAND The new November–December issue of Academe examines political and other divisions within higher education. Contributions from faculty members, AAUP chapter leaders, and an undergraduate activist consider how to advance learning and social justice in tense campus climates. Follow the links in the table of contents below or access the entire issue at https://www.aaup.org/issue/november-december-2017. FEATURES The…