Category: Academic Freedom
-
Zoom Censors Online Session on Zoom Censorship
“We Will Not Be Silenced,” an academic webinar about Zoom’s decision to cancel an earlier academic webinar, was canceled by Zoom.
-
Philosophy Professor Fired After Posting Song on YouTube
James Spiegel, a professor of philosophy at Taylor University, a Christian liberal arts college in Indiana, was fired from his position after posting a video…
-
Illusion and Agreement in the Debate over Intolerance
A good number of very smart, interesting, and creative people signed onto an open letter, published in Harper’s this week, applauding “wider calls for greater equality…
-
A Resignation at Philosophical Studies and a Reply from the Editors (updated w/ comments from Cohen, Dembroff, Byrne)
Last week, Stewart Cohen, professor of philosophy at the University of Arizona, resigned as editor-in-chief from the prestigious academic philosophy journal, Philosophical Studies, a position…
-
Free Speech at Oxford (updated with an important correction)
Flying around social media yesterday were cheers that Oxford University had issued a “Statement on the Importance of Free Speech” in response to a motion from…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Faculty Job Security & Academic Freedom
Seventy-three percent of faculty at institutions of higher education in the United States are neither tenured nor on the tenure-track, according to a new…
-
The Difference Between Snowflakes and Champions of Free Speech
What is the difference between those accused of being whiny, coddled, politically correct snowflakes and those who are considered brave champions of free speech?
-
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…
-
Where the Open Exchange of Ideas is Most Protected and Valued
“[A] commonly held, and wrong, belief is that colleges and universities suppress speech as a matter of course. In fact, the higher education sector is…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…