The Fight Over Academic Freedom (universities, pay, employment, course)
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Some of this makes me think of things I've heard about the McCarthy period.
The Fight Over Academic Freedom
Amid spiraling campus speech debates, many professors are rallying in defense of a bedrock principle. But can they agree on just what it means?
Academic freedom is a bedrock of the modern American university. And lately, it seems to be coming under fire from all directions.
But at some elite private campuses, faculty have increasingly begun organizing against a very different threat. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/16/a...versities.html
In higher education, academic freedom is only a concept that really applies to tenured faculty. No one else has a whiff of it and non-tenured faculty can and to get dismissed for the slightest mis-step. https://apnews.com/article/education...019b4ba669bfe5
Colleges and universities around the country have been clawing back on tenure right and left. And at many colleges, most of the teaching is actually being done by non-tenured low-paid adjuncts. Who typically make far less and have less job security than ordinary K-12 teachers.
There is nothing really new here. I don't think colleges are using adjuncts specifically to curtail academic freedom. They are doing it so they can hire a much cheaper and more malleable work force that they can hire and dismiss at will. And because it diminishes the power of faculty if less of them are tenured permanent professors. The loss of academic freedom is just a convenient byproduct.
It's good to know that, despite the de rigueur opening salvo against Gov. DeSantis in Florida, even Left Wingers are starting to notice.
Quote:
...even some liberal scholars argue that a prevailing progressive orthodoxy has created a climate of self-censorship and fear that stifles open inquiry.
It's quite a complex topic, as it turns out. Here are the opening paragraphs:
Quote:
For many scholars, the biggest danger is at public universities in Republican-controlled states like Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis has led the passage of laws that restrict what can be taught and spearheaded efforts to reshape whole institutions. But at some elite private campuses, faculty have increasingly begun organizing against a very different threat.
Over the past year, faculty groups dedicated to academic freedom have sprung up at Harvard, Yale and Columbia, where even some liberal scholars argue that a prevailing progressive orthodoxy has created a climate of self-censorship and fear that stifles open inquiry.
The fallout from the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on Israel has upended many campuses, as college presidents have been ousted, campus protest has been restricted and alumni, donors and politicians have pushed for greater control. And it has also scrambled the politics of academic freedom itself.
It's good to know that, despite the de rigueur opening salvo against Gov. DeSantis in Florida, even Left Wingers are starting to notice.
Yes, and it bothers me.
Of course it also bothers me that you call us "left wingers".
But I do think it's understandable. One side (whichever side) becomes outspoken about something, but expects the other side to just play nice. And this is exactly what this controversy is about. It's not a new idea -- for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. And that works in education, too.
I think we need too be clear the issue isn't actually academic freedom. Rather it seems to be using the term "academic freedom" to disguise political activism while on the job. I see a big difference discussing, in an academic setting, controversial topics vs espousing a political position in a nonacademic setting using the official position within the university, and then hiding behind "academic freedom" to avoid responsibility.
That's actually normal for most jobs. Most people working know they cannot use official time and their official position to take a political position on anything. It's in many employment contracts. As a public employee I always had to make it very clear that I was speaking for myself and not my employer.
I think we need too be clear the issue isn't actually academic freedom. Rather it seems to be using the term "academic freedom" to disguise political activism while on the job. I see a big difference discussing, in an academic setting, controversial topics vs espousing a political position in a nonacademic setting using the official position within the university, and then hiding behind "academic freedom" to avoid responsibility.
That's actually normal for most jobs. Most people working know they cannot use official time and their official position to take a political position on anything. It's in many employment contracts. As a public employee I always had to make it very clear that I was speaking for myself and not my employer.
Excellent post. What bothers me is how what you stated isn't obvious to so many people.
IMHO, true Academic Freedom and Free Speech are incompatible with Safe Spaces if Safe Spaces are designed to shield members from disturbing speech.
"The debate surrounding a “clash” between safe spaces and free speech on campus, concerns itself with the idea that the university itself must be a safe space for all. As this is directly at odds with the raison d'être of the academy as the meeting point of rigorous disagreement, it is clear that universities are suffering from their own identity crisis, aided and abetted by the portrayal of such clashes on social media."
Of course it also bothers me that you call us "left wingers".
But I do think it's understandable. One side (whichever side) becomes outspoken about something, but expects the other side to just play nice. And this is exactly what this controversy is about. It's not a new idea -- for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. And that works in education, too.
No offense; I'm just being pithy. In life there are Left Wingers and Right Wingers, and some who insist they are "socially liberal but fiscally conservative", "spiritual but not religious" -- whatever; they're not usually good for a lively discussion.
If you are confident in your freedom of speech it shouldn't matter if you are on the left or the right. But increasingly, people are not confident in their freedom of speech. October 7 and its aftermath are making some people squirm who weren't squirming on October 6.
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