Academic Freedom Archives

Academic Freedom

Universities as a Bulwark Against (and Target of) Fascism

“Fascist politics seeks to undermine the credibility of institutions that harbor independent voices of dissent,” says Jason Stanley (Yale), and chief among such institutions are universities, which for the past 50 years have been “the epicenter of protest against injustice and authoritarian overreach.” (more…)

Where the Open Exchange of Ideas is Most Protected and Valued

” commonly held, and wrong, belief is that colleges and universities suppress speech as a matter of course. In fact, the higher education sector is where the open exchange of ideas is more protected and valued than most other sectors in society.” (more…)

Wisconsin Supreme Court Sides With Professor Who Smeared Philosophy Grad Student

The Wisconsin Supreme court ruled today that it was impermissible for Marquette University to fire John McAdams, an associate professor or political science, for his hostile and misleading online writings about a philosophy graduate student at the school. (more…)

The “Moral Panic” of Campus Free Speech

People get awfully solemn in the United States about the civic function of our institutions of higher education. They talk about college as the nursery of democracy and the care that we must take with our young people. As educators, the future is in our hands. I believe it is worth puncturing this solemnity with some awkward questions. (more…)

Untangling the Strings: The Limits of Acceptable Donor Influence in Academia (guest post by Chris Surprenant)

“Our donors are supporting our projects, not the other way around.”

The following is a guest post * by Chris Surprenant, associate professor of philosophy at the University of New Orleans, on the role that those who fund academic programs may have in determining program goals, methods, materials, and staff. (more…)

Philosophy PhD Student Fired for Tweet Critical of Seminary President

A PhD student in the philosophy program at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary was fired from a $40,000/year food service job and had his $7,000/year tuition benefits taken from him after he endorsed, on Twitter, an article critical of the Seminary’s president. (more…)

Professors Favor Free Speech

93 percent of faculty agree with the statement that, “niversity life requires that people with diverse viewpoints and perspectives encounter each other in an environment where they feel free to speak up and challenge each other.” There is almost universal support for the exchange of ideas and open discourse. (more…)

Philosophy Professor Suspended for Anti-Gay Facebook Post (updated)

Jean Laberge, a professor of philosophy at Cégep du Vieux-Montréal since 1994, was suspended from his position at the end of January, reportedly for writing about his “disgust for homosexuals” on Facebook. (more…)

NJIT and Rutgers Newark Faculty Demand Alt-Right Colleague Be Fired

Members of the faculty and staff of the Federated History Department at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) and Rutgers University, Newark have called for Jason Jorjani, a humanities lecturer at NJIT with a PhD in philosophy from SUNY Stony Brook, to be fired. (more…)

“Credible Threats Of Personal Violence” Lead To Retraction of Colonialism Paper (updated)

The controversy over the decision of Third World Quarterly to publish “The Case for Colonialism” by Bruce Gilley (discussed here) has escalated. Now, “credible threats of personal violence” against the editor of the journal, Shahid Qadir, have led the journal’s publisher, Taylor & Francis, to withdraw the article. (more…)

Censorship of Philosophy in Hong Kong

Politically-motivated censorship of philosophy in Hong Kong has “clearly become worse” over the past few years, says Wong Kwok-kui, a philosopher at Hong Kong Baptist University. (more…)

The Targeting of Philosopher Tommy J. Curry

Mr. Dreher’s post sent words racing across a network that was primed for racial outrage—like New York City’s black-radio scene circa 2001, but much more powerful. The internet’s right-wing news belt had expanded under President Obama. Websites like Infowars and Breitbart, once on the fringe, had found a champion in President Trump, who seemed passionate about def..

AAUP Writes To Sierra Nevada Re: Fired Professors

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has written a letter to Alan Walker, President of Sierra Nevada College, regarding the recent termination of Samantha Bankston, an associate professor of humanities who taught philosophy and other subjects at the school, and Dan Aalbers, a psychology instructor there. (more…)

Sierra Nevada Fires Philosopher In Apparent Retaliation – UPDATED

The administration at Sierra Nevada College (SNC), a private liberal arts college in Nevada, has fired an associate professor of philosophy in what appears to be retaliation for her public criticism of the administration’s handling of the school’s financial problems. (more…)

Mills College Board of Trustees Approves Revised Plan: Philosophy Not Entirely Eliminated

The Mills College Board of Trustees on Monday approved a revised version of its “Financial Stabilization Plan.” The original version of the plan called for the firing its tenured philosophy faculty, full professor and department head Marc Joseph and associate professor Jay Gupta, and eliminating the Philosophy Department. The approved plan fired Joseph (who had call..

180 Seconds To Save Their Jobs

On June 6th, the Mills College administration and Board of Trustees announced plans to eliminate philosophy at Mills College and fire its two tenured philosophy professors, Marc Joseph and Jay Gupta. On Friday, the Board of Trustees offered each of them three minutes to provide testimony in defense of philosophy and their jobs. (more…)

Israeli Philosophy Community Calls For Rejection Of Proposed Ethics Code

Over 80 Israeli philosophers—the vast majority of the Israeli philosophical community—have issued a statement urging their government’s Council for Higher Education to reject a proposed academic ethics code. (more…)

Philosophers From Women’s Colleges Oppose Eliminating Philosophy At Mills

Philosophers at Wellesley, Smith, Mount Holyoke, Bryn Mawr, and Barnard—all women’s colleges—have authored a letter opposing the proposed elimination of the philosophy department at Mills College. (more…)

Is Academic Freedom in Israel Threatened by a Philosopher-Authored Ethics Code? (Updated with English Translation of Proposed Code)

Israel’s Minister of Education has proposed the adoption of a code of ethics for academics that some worry poses a threat to the academic freedom of professors there. The code was authored by Asa Kasher, the Laura Schwarz-Kipp Chair in Professional Ethics and Philosophy of Practice at Tel Aviv University. (more…)

Petition Launched to Preserve Philosophy at Mills College

In the wake of news reported last Wednesday that the administration and Board of Trustees of Mills College plans to eliminate the school’s philosophy department and fire its tenured faculty, a petition has been launched to “Uphold Principles of Academic Freedom and Preserve the Philosophy and Journalism Departments at Mills College.” (more…)

Philosopher’s Article On Transracialism Sparks Controversy (Updated with response from author)

An article in the current issue of the feminist philosophy journal Hypatia has created such a controversy over the past several days that the members of its board of associate editors have now issued an apology for publishing it. (more…)

Notre Dame Philosophers Issue Statement On Threats To Philosophy at Univ. of St. Thomas Houston

In response to news that philosophy programs at the University of St. Thomas in Houston may be shut down and tenured philosophers relieved of their positions, members of the University of Notre Dame Department of Philosophy have issued the following statement, which was sent in to Daily Nous by Professor Thérèse Cory: (more…)

51 Years Teaching Philosophy Is Not Good Enough, says Accreditor

Professor Katherine Butler has taught philosophy at Wayne State College (WSC) in Wayne, Nebraska, for 51 years. It doesn’t look like she’ll be doing it again, though. It’s not that she is retiring. Rather, Higher Learning Commission, the accrediting agency that evaluates the school, has issued new guidelines that disqualify her from teaching philosophy. (more…)

Texas A&M President Regrets “Contributions… to misunderstandings”

Last week, Tommy Curry, professor of philosophy at Texas A & M University, began receiving racist hate mail and death threats as a result of an opinion piece by a conservative pundit who framed remarks of his in a misleading way. Surprisingly, the president of his university, Michael K. Young, had been taken in by this deception and publicly condemned Curry’s remark..

Barthold Retaliation Case Settled

This past April I reported that Lauren Barthold, associate professor of philosophy at Gordon College, a Christian liberal arts college in Massachusetts, had filed a lawsuit against the college for retaliating against her for her public statements (such as a letter to the editor of a newspaper) disagreeing with college president Michael Lindsay over whether federal c..