Screenshot of the web page for the University of Minnesota Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies shows mural with gray-toned silhouettes of several individuals of various ages

Academic Freedom and the Raz Segal Affair at Minnesota

BY NATHANIEL MILLS Joe Lockard’s August 8 Academe Blog post criticizes, with multiple errors and missing contexts, a statement of the executive committee of the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities AAUP chapter. The chapter’s statement protests the role played by nonacademic groups in the UMN administration’s recent decision to block the hire of Raz Segal as…

Screenshot of the web page for the University of Minnesota Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies shows mural with gray-toned silhouettes of several individuals of various ages

“Outsiderism” and Academic Freedom

BY JOE LOCKARD  Very few people other than faculty members pay attention to faculty statements directed at administrations. It is rare that they have political impact beyond colleges and universities. We nonetheless write and publish them as instruments for establishing a faculty voice. Therein lies a problem: faculty statements can become blinkered issuances that use…