University of Illinois emeritus professor Robert Weissberg published an essay this week with the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, a right-wing think tank, in which he argues about the Salaita case: “The trustees are not guilty of violating free speech; their sin is cowardice in overseeing the faculty. They did not perform…
Among the articles in this year’s edition of the Journal of Academic Freedom is one I wrote on the history of the founding of the AAUP. Since I am not a professional historian (I teach computer science), I feel like I should offer an explanation (and to my colleagues who are historians, an apology) for…
World Net Daily, the main source of news for those who think that National Review and American Spectator suffer from a creeping liberal bias, reports the following on the latest appearance on Sean Hannity’s FOX News show by Phil Robertson, the scion of the Duck Dynasty clan: “Phil Robertson, who got himself suspended from the…
Writing for the Boston Globe, Oliver Ortega has reported on the Lynn, Massachusetts, school district’s decision to sever ties with Gordon College, a Christian institution that has placed student teachers in the district’s classrooms for more than a decade. The tension between the college’s and the school district’s positions on the employment rights of gay,…
This is a guest post by Kenneth Garcia, a contributor to the newest issue of the Journal of Academic Freedom. Garcia is the associate director of the Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts at the University of Notre Dame, and author of the award-winning book Academic Freedom and the Telos of the Catholic University. Do we…
Below is a Sept. 2 letter (read the full letter with footnotes here) from Katherine M. Franke, the Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law at Columbia University, to UIUC Chancellor Phyllis Wise. Dear Dr. Wise: Last June several University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty invited me to your campus as part of The Cultures of…
This is a guest post by Adria Battaglia, a contributor to the newest issue of the Journal of Academic Freedom. Professor Battaglia received her PhD in rhetoric and language from the University of Texas at Austin in 2010. She served as a visiting professor at Illinois College for one year before returning to Texas to join the…
In an e-mail sent today by UA Outreach, President Pat Gamble announced his request that the University of Alaska Board of Regents revisit the $320,000 bonus decision. The Board of Regents is planning to meet in executive session on September 8 to consider Gamble’s request, according to the news release. Thanks to all of you…
An interesting court decision involving faculty intellectual property came down last week. The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District ruled on August 26 that The University of Missouri System does not have to release course syllabi because they are protected by copyright laws. The ruling upheld a previous lower court decision. According to the appeals…
UPDATE: This report may not be accurate. English professor Ted Underwood just tweeted: Regret to say that last night’s report from students appears premature. Faculty have since met with Wise, & report no change in position. University of Illinois student Stephanie Skora reports back on a meeting that a group of students had with Chancellor…