Academic Freedom Archives

Academic Freedom

Academic Freedom and Expertise at Federal Institutions of Higher Education (and Elsewhere)

The Hatch Act is a law that forbids employees of the executive branch of the United States federal government from taking part in certain forms of political activity, usually in regards to supporting particular candidates or political parties in elections, while acting in their official capacity. What does this mean for academic experts on political matters who are ..

Scholars Object to Publication of Paper Defending Race Science

Scholars are objecting to the decision of the editors of the journal, Philosophical Psychology, to publish an article that calls for “free inquiry” into possible inherited genetic bases of group differences on IQ tests. (more…)

Philosophers and the AAUP

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) recently published a statement, “In Defense of Knowledge and Higher Education,” prompted by remarks from US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos that disparaged professors for indoctrinating and intimidating students. (more…)

UGA Philosophy Grad Student Cleared of Misconduct Charges

The University of Georgia (UGA) has determined that Irami Osei-Frimpong, a philosophy graduate student and teaching assistant at the school, did not violate the school’s code of conduct.

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DePaul Students Ask University to Censure Philosophy Professor for Writings on Palestinians

Jason D. Hill, professor of philosophy at DePaul University, recently wrote an article for The Federalist about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has prompted students at his university to launch a petition calling for his censure. (more…)

Epistemology and Free Speech

“When we have good reason to think that the position advocated by a potential speaker is wrong, we have an epistemic reason in favour of no-platforming: we can be confident that providing her with a platform will produce evidence in favour of her views that it is very difficult to rebut (and which can’t be rebutted by argument).” (more…)

UGA “Vigorously Exploring All Available Legal Options” It Can Take Against Philosophy Grad Student

A University of Georgia (UGA) alumnus’s expression of bafflement at his alma mater’s failure to condemn remarks made by a philosophy graduate student at the school and his call for other alumni to withhold donations has apparently prompted the university to consider action against the graduate student. (more…)

Why I Don’t Usually Respond to Professor Leiter: An Example

In my recent post, “It’s Complicated,” I responded to a criticism of me published by Brian Leiter at his blog, Leiter Reports.

In my post, I wrote that “I usually don’t respond to Professor Leiter’s remarks about me,” though I did not say why. One reason is that to respond adequately to them here would divert Daily Nous away from its purpose. DN is supposed to be..

It’s Complicated

I’ve been criticized for saying that the issue behind the attempt of some students at Oxford to stop having John Finnis teach required courses* is “morally and practically complicated.” How strong a criticism is this? (more…)

Oxford Students Launch Petition to Have John Finnis “Removed” (Updated)

Over 350 people have added their names to a petition calling for John Finnis, emeritus professor of law and philosophy at the University of Oxford, to be removed from his position teaching compulsory seminars in the law curricula at the university. (more…)

Philosopher Involved in Hoax Investigated by University

An institutional review board (IRB) at Portland State University has found that Peter Boghossian, an assistant professor of philosophy at the school, ought to have obtained IRB approval before conducting a project of submitting hoax articles to academic journals. (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…)

When Academics Receive Threats of Violence and Death

“This week several of my colleagues in my department and faculty have received anonymous death threats and antisemitic hostility because they politely protested a student group’s invitation to Jordan Peterson.” (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…)

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…)

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…)

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…)

“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…)

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…)

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…)

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…)

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…)

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