POSTED BY HANK REICHMAN On November 1, Brian Soucek, Professor of Law and Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of California at Davis, spoke as part of the UC Davis Forums on the Public University and the Social Good on “Academic Freedom: Dangers and Distractions.” Professor Soucek is the outgoing chair of the University of California’s…
BY JOHN K. WILSON On October 22, I testified as an expert witness on academic freedom at a hearing to dismiss Lars Jensen, a tenured math professor at Truckee Meadow Community College (TMCC) in Nevada. Because I wasn’t able to make my full argument about Jensen’s case (the attorney for the administration opposed my testimony,…
BY JOHN K. WILSON In Part 1 of my defense of Lars Jensen, a tenured math professor at Truckee Meadow Community College (TMCC) in Nevada, I examined why TMCC can’t fire Jensen for his pedagogical choices, or some trivial complaints about his paperwork. But now I want to focus on the core reason why TMCC…
BY DANIEL A. SEGAL On April 15 of this year, Pitzer College’s Title IX Coordinator informed me that a student had filed a complaint against me alleging both “harassment on the grounds of sex/gender” and “harassment on the grounds of ancestry.” The case ended with a determination that there were no violations of policy, no…
BY HANK REICHMAN Recently I had the pleasure of discussing academic freedom with Keith Whittington, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics at Princeton University and chair of the Academic Freedom Alliance, for that organization’s podcast. His interview with me is now available at the link below. My thanks to Keith and to the AFA for…
BY HANK REICHMAN The state of Florida has gotten something of a reputation for zaniness. The “Florida Man” meme has been the source of both laughter and horror, as tales of outlandish behavior in the news repeatedly go viral. To read some of the most outrageous (and entertaining), go here. But these days “Florida Man”…
BY DANYA LEEBAW The years since the 2016 election have prompted reckoning and reflection among academic librarians about the integration of our professional, academic, and civic responsibilities. We are educators focused on information literacy, stewards of research and archival collections, and hosts to essential public and learning spaces on our campuses. In recent years, many…
BY HANK REICHMAN At the invitation of the AAUP chapter, I was scheduled to visit and speak at La Salle University in Philadelphia in April 2020 about my book, The Future of Academic Freedom. Of course, the appearance was cancelled owing to the pandemic. Yesterday, I belatedly spoke to members of the La Salle faculty…
BY JENNIFER RUTH We at Academe blog have a number of posts discussing the legislation attempting to restrict curricula teaching race and gender justice and critical race theory. See here, here, here, and here. “This is the new McCarthyism,” historian Ellen Schrecker has written. The AAUP itself has put out a number of statements criticizing…
BY JASON STANLEY Yale University is a central democratic institution, a fact recognized by its tax-exempt status. It provides a forum in which society’s most difficult issues can be confronted and freely discussed. The University educator is thus tasked with presenting their students with intellectually rigorous foundational challenges to tradition; that is the role of…