POSTED BY HANK REICHMAN The following is the text of a press release issued yesterday by the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT). For background on this case see this previous post on Academeblog. Delegates to the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) Council voted today to censure the University of Toronto because of the…
BY GREGORY E. RUTLEDGE The current state of the union—recurring mass shootings, raging white supremacy (manifested in voter disenfranchisement, anti-immigrant hostility, violence against Asian Americans, and efforts to foment a racial civil war), a pandemic, outrageously foxy lying by US senators and representatives, and increasing economic desperation alongside massive wealth gains by billionaires—and the complacency…
BY JOHN K. WILSON Marquette professor John McAdams, who died on Thursday at the age of 75, was a controversial figure. His most important legacy will be the 2018 ruling of the Wisconsin Supreme Court in McAdams v. Marquette, which is incredibly important in establishing contractual protections for the academic freedom of professors at private…
BY HANK REICHMAN In a statement, “On Academic Freedom for our Higher Education Users,” Zoom has announced that it will leave content moderation issues to universities for virtually all matter “related to the institution’s academics or operations” and engage in content-based censorship only under rare, clearly delineated conditions. In short, the company now says it…
BY JOHN K. WILSON Here are some events happening in the next month that relate to free expression and academic freedom issues and may interest AcademeBlog readers (followed by some recordings of events held earlier this year, and deadlines for some proposals and grants. Readers are encouraged to mention additional events in the comments. Below…
BY STEVEN LUBET Hank Reichman’s recent post on the Bandy Lee case at the Yale Medical School raises an important point that deserves some further consideration. To recap, Dr. Lee has sued Yale for firing her from an unpaid, part-time position in the psychiatry department. Lee’s offense involved tweeting about the mental health of Donald…
BY HANK REICHMAN Bandy Lee, a former Yale University faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine, filed suit in federal court March 22 against the University alleging “unlawful termination… due to her exercise of free speech about the dangers of Donald Trump’s presidency.” Lee charges that Yale fired her in…
BY JOHN K. WILSON Earlier today, Boise State University lifted its suspension on 52 classes with 1300 students for UF 200: Foundations of Ethics & Diversity. This was a necessary correction to a serious mistake the administration made last week when it announced one of the largest attacks on academic freedom in American history, with 52…
BY JOHN K. WILSON Jennifer Ruth, who is a contributing editor here at AcademeBlog as well as a professor of film studies at Portland State University (PSU) and a member of the AAUP’s Committee A, published an important op-ed this week in the Chronicle of Higher Education, and so I wanted to offer my critique…
BY JOHN K. WILSON The new Academic Freedom Alliance launched on March 8, 2021. Below is my interview via email with Keith E. Whittington, Chair of the Academic Committee of the Academic Freedom Alliance. Whittington is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics at Princeton University, and the author of Speak Freely: Why Universities Must…