Singapore “Fake News” Law May Threaten Academic Freedom

BY HANK REICHMAN Scholars from Singapore and around the world, including several prominent American professors, have expressed concern over the Asian city-state’s proposed legislation against internet ‘fake news’, which they say could have unintended consequences for academic freedom and research.  Such a precedent could lead to “even wider restraints on global scholarly research and knowledge…

“Professor Watchlist” Goes International

BY HANK REICHMAN Readers of this blog are undoubtedly well aware of the nefarious “Professor Watchlist,” sponsored by the right-wing Turning Point, USA.  The list is but the latest in a long string of blacklisting efforts aimed at silencing faculty members.  It debuted shortly after the 2016 election, claiming to identify professors who promote “leftist…

The Barghouti Ban

BY JOHN K. WILSON The Trump Administration’s decision to ban Omar Barghouti from coming to America is an alarming attack on academic freedom and free speech. Barghouti, a co-founder of the Boycott, Divest, Sanction (BDS) movement, was scheduled to speak at Harvard and New York University but the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) ordered…

graphic showing gender pay gap for faculty in academic year 2018-2019.

Little Movement on Salaries and Gender Pay Disparity

BY GWENDOLYN BRADLEY Faculty salaries barely budged when adjusted for inflation during the 2018-2019 academic year, according to the AAUP’s 2018-19 Faculty Compensation Survey. Average salaries for full-time faculty members at US colleges and universities are 2 percent higher in 2018-19 than they were in the preceding academic year, but with prices in the economy…

A Tale of Two Cancelled Speeches: Beloit and Columbia

BY JOHN K. WILSON Two cancelled speeches  last week, at Beloit College and Columbia University, have brought new attention to the issue of censoring speakers. At Beloit College, a speech by Erik Prince was cancelled out of fear of student protesters. At Columbia University, a panel about censorship in Turkey was cancelled because the administration…

Ray Bolger as the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz

Education in the Corporate Oz

BY AARON BARLOW One of the more depressing articles I’ve read recently—outside of politics—is Kevin Carey’s “The Creeping Capitalist Takeover of Higher Education” for Huffington Post. He writes:               Instead of students receiving a reasonably priced, quality online degree, universities are using them as cash cows while corporate middlemen…

image of tic tac toe grid with three red candy hearts in a row and AAUP logo in corner

Recent Wins for the AAUP

BY JULIE SCHMID As we move into the final months of the academic year, I wanted to share updates about three recent wins. These three successes emphasize the power of collective action and solidarity—among chapter members; among the national AAUP and our state conferences and chapters; and among faculty, students, and the community—when we all…

AAUP buttons with the slogan "One Faculty"

Annual Meeting to Vote on Changes to AAUP Organizational Structure

BY RUDY FICHTENBAUM AND PAUL DAVIS As we shared with members in December 2018,  the AAUP Council and the AAUP Collective Bargaining Congress Executive Committee voted in November to move forward with changes that will streamline our shared organizational structure. Following that vote, these governing bodies directed that detailed revisions to governing documents and other…