authoritarianism

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Be Careful What You Teach: Trump’s Minions May Get You Fired

A lecturer in the English Department at Texas A & M University was fired from her position after a student in one of her courses complained that she was “not entirely sure is legal to be teaching… because according to our president, there’s only two genders… and also this very much goes against not only but a lot of people’s religious beliefs.” (more…)..

Trump’s Halting of Harvard’s Funding Ruled Illegal

Yesterday, Judge Allison D. Burroughs of the U.S. District Court in Boston vacated the Trump administration’s orders to freeze or terminate billions of dollars in federal funding to Harvard University, calling them “arbitrary and capricious” and “violative of the First Amendment.” (more…)

Philosophy Grad Student from China Deported upon Arrival in US (updated)

A 22-year-old student from China who had traveled from China to Texas to study philosophy at the University of Houston was detained upon arrival in the state, questioned, and deported back to China 36 hours later, according to the Associated Press. (more…)

Stanford’s Student Newspaper Sues Federal Government

The Stanford Daily, Stanford University’s independently run student newspaper, and two of its student staff, are suing Marco Rubio, in his capacity as Secretary of State, and Kristi Noem, in her capacity as Secretary of Homeland Security, for violating their First Amendment rights. (more…)

Columbia University Caves

Door #1: Lose at least $400 million in federal grants.
Door #2: Lose at least $221 million and your institutional autonomy. (more…)

Philosophy Professor Reportedly Assaulted & Abducted During ICE Raid on Farm (updates)

Jonathan Caravello, a lecturer in philosophy at California State University Channel Islands, was reportedly “piled on by multiple agents all at once” as “he tried to help a man in a wheelchair” who was having difficulty moving after Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents threw canisters of tear gas at them and their fellow protestors, with, accordi..

University of Utah Cans History and Philosophy of Science Major Amidst Political and Administrative Chaos

One way public universities in Utah can earn back part of the $60 million in funding that the state legislature took from their budgets is by “showing that will be reallocated for high-demand and high-wage majors as the state pushes for higher education to be more job-focused,” according to the Salt Lake Tribune. (more…)

West Point Philosophy Professor Resigns After Trump’s Incursions on Academic Freedom (updated)

“I will be resigning after this semester from my tenured position at West Point after 13 years on the faculty. I cannot tolerate these changes, which prevent me from doing my job responsibly. I am ashamed to be associated with the academy in its current form.” (more…)

AAPT Board Condemns Trump’s Attacks on Higher Education

The board of directors of the American Association of Philosophy Teachers (AAPT) has issued a statement condemning “a series of Trump administration attacks on the core principles of higher education”. (more…)

Judge Orders ICE to Free Philosophy Major it Abducted

Mohsen Mahdawi, the graduating philosophy major at Columbia University who was taken into custody by hooded and masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during his appointment for a US citizenship application interview, has been ordered freed by a federal judge, several news outlets have reported. (more…)

Canadian Association of University Teachers Issues US Travel Warning

The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), a federation of independent associations and trade unions representing university teachers and other academic professionals has advised academics to refrain from “non-essential” travel to the United States.

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Philosophy Major Snatched by ICE During Citizenship Interview (updated)

Mohsen Mahdawi, a philosophy major at Columbia University who is due to graduate later this semester, was attending a US citizenship application interview in Vermont on Monday when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents wearing hoods and masks took him from the building, put him into an unmarked car, and drove off. (more…)

Harvard “will not negotiate over its independence” (updates)

“The University will not negotiate over its independence or its constitutional rights.” (more…)

Will Columbia Be Taken Over by the Federal Government?

Columbia University is “one of the most premier research and teaching institutions in the world, and that institution dies tomorrow.” (more…)

On “Chilling Effects” and the “Rowdiness” of Free Speech

“Whatever reasons there are that might justify the state saying that free speech is not being protected, the fact that some people felt intimidated by the permitted rowdy and contentious speech of others cannot be among them. (more…)

Philosophers’ Books among those Banned from US Naval Academy Library (updated)

In January, Donald Trump issued an executive order banning various books on race, gender, and other topics from public schools for kindergarten through grade 12. Last week Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told the US Naval Academy that, though it is a college, the order applied to its library, too. (more…)

AAUP & AFT Sue Departments of Justice, Education, and other Federal Agencies

Last week, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) filed a lawsuit to “challenges the Trump administration’s unlawful and unprecedented effort to overpower a university’s academic autonomy and control the thought, association, scholarship, and expression of its faculty and students.” (more…)

Defending Freedom of Speech & Thought at Universities

“Freedom of thought and expression is indispensable to the mission of a modern research university.” (more…)

Philosophy Lecturerer Allegedly Involuntarily Committed for Supporting Protestors

According to Radio Free Asia (RFA), Wu Yanan, a philosophy lecturer at Nankai University in Tianjin, China, was taken by authorities under false pretenses and confined in a psychiatric institution for supporting anti-lockdown protestors. (more…)